'The View’ Co-Hosts Thought Pete Hegseth's Controversial Speech About Excluding 'Wimps and Weirdos' From Troops Was a 'SNL' Skit

The View co-hosts were disgusted by a recent "State of the Force" speech delivered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, noting on their Friday, October 2 show, that his remarks sounded like a parody straight out of Saturday Night Live.

The panel roasted a clip of Hegseth addressing troops, where he declared the military was no longer a "woke" or "weak" department.

He heavily leaned on inflammatory language and slurs, saying the military would have, "No fatties, no t-------, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals. Just warriors.”

Former Trump Department of Defense official Alyssa Farah Griffin admitted she initially thought the quote was a social media parody, saying, "I was like, 'That's not real. This is SNL. This is not real life.'"

"[Hegseth] did serve our country, but it would have been like if I showed up at this table and was like, ‘Barbara Walters, I’m going to tell you how it’s done,'” she joked of the show's late creator.

“He is taking on people that are four-star generals, the admirals who have decades of experience both in combat and in working with the civilian workforce, and he’s denigrating their service to our country, but he also talks about a military that I don’t recognize,” Griffin continued. “It’s not what I saw when I worked there. We’re the greatest fighting force in the history of mankind. We’re not weak. We’re not incapable. And I don’t know where he’s hearing this from.”

Attorney Sunny Hostin strongly agreed that the speech sounded like satire. She called the rhetoric "obscene and absurd," pointing out the hypocrisy of demanding "no wimps" while working under President Donald Trump, who received five draft deferments for bone spurs. Hostin also condemned Hegseth's newly announced Office of Religious Affairs for forcing Christian themes onto a diverse military.

“He’s weaving this religious language and Christian themes throughout his address. There are Muslims that serve in our army. There are Jews that serve in our army. How dare he place his religious beliefs upon other people as a leader?” Hostin stated.

Sara Haines dryly observed that the soundbite was "not exactly a recruitment video.”

Guest host Debbie Matenopoulos criticized Hegseth's leadership style, stating his messaging gets completely lost because he "is bullying these people" who put themselves in harm's way.

“You need to act like a leader,” she demanded.

“I would like him to tell us how much this Iran war is costing us because there’s been no transparency on that. I would like the Secretary of Defense to sound less like a teenage boy and more like a military leader who is trying to win or end a war,” added attorney Ana Navarro.

The co-hosts' comparison to comedy wasn't far from the truth, as Hegseth's real-life speeches have often blurred the line with satire.

Earlier in the year, SNL's Colin Jost — who regularly parodies Hegseth on the show — revealed that writers had discarded a sketch idea of Hegseth quoting a fake Bible verse because they thought it was "too ridiculous," only for Hegseth to actually recite a very similar passage at a real Pentagon worship service two weeks later.

As predicted, Saturday Night Live's October 3 cold open featured Jost reprising his impression of Hegseth in a satirical Republican midterm ad using his slur-filled rant.