Another low flyby shows the danger of Hegseth’s hypermasculinity

US admin July 16, 2026 0 Comments

Another low flyby shows the danger of Hegseth’s hypermasculinity

The beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term coincided with dozens of passengers dying after an Army helicopter collided with a commercial airplane. Given this, one might hope — if not expect — the Trump administration to operate with impeccable sensitivity and care to ensure military aircraft are being properly operated, and certainly that they are not frightening or threatening to the public in any way.

But with man-children in charge of the federal government, even matters of life and death are treated frivolously.

On Wednesday, a jet from the Navy’s Blue Angels, a squad that performs flight demonstrations, flew so close to the ground that it shocked Florida beachgoers, sending items and sand up into the air. This comes after a somewhat similar incident involving two Army helicopters that flew near pro-Trump musician Kid Rock’s house. You may remember that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lifted suspensions for the crews and quashed an investigation.

And Hegseth appeared to respond to Wednesday’s incident in Florida by posting on X: “The flyovers will continue until morale improves.”

The White House responded in typically puerile fashion, using a cartoonish, probably AI-generated illustration of the flyover that — unlike the real scene — featured no screaming children ducking for cover.

“It’s okay to love America,” the post on X said.

A spokesperson told MS NOW that the Navy is reviewing footage of “a low-altitude pass by a team aircraft over Pensacola Beach yesterday.” The spokesperson added:

During an arrival maneuver, an aircraft flew lower than standard profiles, resulting in a disturbance on the beach that affected civilian chairs and umbrellas. The safety of our hometown community, spectators, and our pilots is our highest priority. Team leadership is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the maneuver and conducting a thorough safety review to ensure all operations adhere to strict Navy and FAA safety standards.

Read more JD Vance uses Rogan’s podcast to deceive the public on Epstein scandal

As with most things during a Trump presidency, we can never exclude the dumbest possible rationale. And with that in mind, it’s noteworthy that it seems this flyover is being framed as part of Hegseth’s ridiculous and overtly misogynistic efforts to apply his perverse view of masculinity to the armed forces. As part of this quest, Hegseth has hyped up the military’s new emphasis on “maximum lethality.”

And that’s helpful background for this post from Eric Trump, a profiteer of the military industrial complex, who characterized concerns about the flyover as a contrivance of the “low-T mainstream media.” The post came on the same day Hegseth announced that he was authorizing yearly testosterone checks and potential treatments for men in the military who are 30 and older — a plan seemingly hatched from the mind of an 8-year-old G.I. Joe fan.

I personally do not care about my testosterone level, and I do not think it is “low-T” to express concern about beachgoers potentially being taken out by a military plane conducting an aerial demonstration. But I want you to consider this flyover — and that “low-T” post from Trump’s son — the next time you hear conservatives attempt to demonize gender-affirming care for transgender people.

To hear them tell it, the personal and demonstrably harmless procedures that trans people undergo are imminent threats to America. Meanwhile, we’re being told that Americans should just accept low flybys as the Pentagon seeks to assert manliness.

We would all do well to ask ourselves whether our livelihoods and peace of mind are worth being sacrificed in order to massage the fragile egos of hypermasculine men.