President Donald Trump’s inner circle has never been short on flattery — but this latest display of devotion took things to a whole new level.
At a conservative awards show Thursday night, one of Trump’s top officials tried a little too hard to hype up his boss, retelling an old story meant to make Trump sound commanding. But somewhere between the awkward pauses and bizarre sound effects, the performance went off the rails for viewers online.
The moment came during the Fox Nation “Patriot Awards” in New York, when the Trump’s Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stumbled through a rambling story about Trump’s supposed decisiveness during a military strike.
“That moment we realized that our bombers were out of Iran and the bombs had hit the target, and the world didn’t knew,” Hegseth said awkwardly as he tried to remember his words, describing the United States’ bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites in June.
He found his rhythm again and continued, “It was a fun moment when Donald Trump turned to his assistant and said, ‘Go get me my phone.’”
Then Hegseth made bizarre sounds apparently trying to sound like someone typing on their phone, “boop, boop, boop” …. before saying “Ready?”
“The world. Listen FAFO,” he declared in what was intended to be his mic drop moment .
Hegseth must have felt proud of himself that evening after trying a similar joke before to the nation’s top military brass during a speech in September, except there was absolute silence in the auditorium.
FAFO is an acronym that mean “f-ck around and find out.” The saying has been around long before the Trump administration came to power and is generally used as a warning that if someone is acting inappropriately, they will face consequences, according to USA Today.
He finally found his audience at the Patriots Award, but he became the punchline on social media.
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A Threads mocked, “He was waiting for another moment to say the “FAFO” line to something other than stone-cold silence,” adding, “A room full of cult members applauding cult member leadership isn’t exactly redeeming the line, either lol”
“God hes a dork. And not the lovable kind. The smelly kind who breathes on you,” Threads poster Justin Aga lamented.
Another pleaded, “This is so pathetic. It’s just pathetic, stop.”
“What on earth is wrong with this guy–is he drunk again? And also just WTH with an “awards” show called the f….in’ PATRIOT AWARDS? You people!!! Beyond embarrassing. This is all just too weird…. a bunch of WEIRDOS,” fumed Kaydee.
The backlash continued against Hegseth who tried another gag — this one about his own security blunder.
“So many dear friends, so many people I love, so many incredible colleagues. I see Mike Waltz in the room. Mike, I’ll hit you up on Signal later. Too soon?! Come on!” he cracked, referencing his recent encrypted-messaging snafu.
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Making a joke out of a national security issue is a slap in the face to all Americans and it insults our intelligence. He’s making a joke of it to escape accountability.
This Threads user remarked, “So this is considered funny in the MAGA realm? And this comment, “A bunch of fake leaders giving themselves made up awards.”
But that wasn’t all. Plenty of people didn’t even know Fox’s Patriot Awards existed, let alone what the award is for.
“Wait…First: Wtf is the Patriot Awards??” this Threads user wondered.
“On a scale of 1-10, how drunk is whiskey Pete here?” social media poster Richard Hill joked.
Fox’s annual Fox Nation Patriot Awards show hosted by Fox host Sean Hannity is described as “celebrating individuals who have shown dedication to American values and have made significant contributions to the country.”
First responders, military members and other so-called “everyday heroes” are honored through various award categories, including “Young Patriot,” “Heroism” and “Patriot of the Year.”
And similar to Trump’s Mar-A-Lago party, this ceromony landed at the wrong time.
“What the hell is this?! 
A decadent participation award show featuring the Secretary of Defense cracking a self deprecating joke about his security risk stupidity all during a government shutdown while the economy is on the verge of collapse????,” said Mark.