Former President Barack Obama said on Saturday that officials in President Donald Trump’s administration “are not serious people,” moments after saying Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was focused on “the jawlines and testosterone levels of our troops,” and argued that Americans “end up having to pay the price for their lack of seriousness.”
Obama spoke at a rally at Cleveland’s Public Auditorium for Ohio Democrats Amy Acton, who is running for governor against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, and former Senator Sherrod Brown, who is challenging Republican Senator Jon Husted. The speech, 10 days before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, was carried live on Obama’s X account and on C-SPAN’s event page.
Obama did not use Hegseth’s name, referring to him as “the defense secretary.” “He’s very focused on important matters like the jawlines and testosterone levels of our troops and live-streaming executions, because that’s how he thinks you cultivate that manly warrior spirit,” Obama said. “How much time do you think this defense secretary spends looking at himself in the mirror in the morning? I mean, you know he’s working his hair, because that’s how warriors look.”
He continued: “These are not serious people. They’re not serious people. And the problem is you end up having to pay the price for their lack of seriousness.” He then turned to tariffs, saying Trump “was warned at the time when you impose tariffs, consumers pay the tab.”
The testosterone reference concerns a July memorandum in which Hegseth directed screening of service members aged 30 and older for testosterone deficiency during annual health assessments. Guidance released in September by the Defense Health Agency applies to male service members, with hormone treatment offered as an option for those found to be deficient. Hegseth has described the program as a readiness measure, saying it “is not about artificial enhancement; it’s about restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities,” according to the agency.
The execution reference concerns Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009 and is scheduled to be executed by firing squad on Dec. 3. Hegseth had said the execution would be livestreamed, ABC News reported. On Oct. 15, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Hasan “will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed.”
The remarks came in a section of the speech about the cost of living. Earlier, Obama said, “Diesel is over six and climbing,” and argued that “this administration’s actions are directly responsible for rising costs,” pointing above all to the war with Iran, which he said had given Tehran “veto power” over oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. AAA’s national fuel price survey put the average price of diesel at $6.34 a gallon on Saturday, compared with $3.64 a year earlier.
Administration officials have attributed the rise in prices to the conflict while saying it will be temporary. “We will get to the other side of the Iran conflict, and those prices will come down,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Oct. 18.
The Pentagon has defended Hegseth against Democratic criticism, with press secretary Kingsley Wilson saying in a statement to Semafor on Oct. 9 that “Secretary Hegseth has slashed bureaucracy, unleashed innovation, and delivered for our warfighters every step of the way.”
The Republican candidates in Ohio pushed back on Obama’s visit. “Ohioans can’t afford a liberal governor who shows up for Obama but never shows up for them,” Ramaswamy spokesperson Connie Luck said, according to NBC News.
The testosterone screening program is documented in Pentagon guidance, and Hegseth’s livestream comments were reported by ABC News, though the livestream plan was dropped after Trump’s Oct. 15 post. Obama did not point to any policy concerning troops’ “jawlines,” and his remarks about Hegseth’s appearance and his description of administration officials as “not serious people” are his own characterizations. Hegseth, the Pentagon and the White House had not responded to Obama’s remarks on their X accounts as of early Sunday.