Don’t shake hands with Pete Hegseth.
For reasons that remain foggy, the Fox News host bragged on the television Sunday that he has not washed his hands in approximately a decade—and attributed the fact that he rarely gets sick to his poor hygiene.
“I don’t think I’ve washed my hands for ten years,” Hegseth said on Fox & Friends on Sunday, to the apparent horror of his co-hosts and normal, non-disgusting human beings everywhere. “I don’t really wash my hands ever.”
Fox News’ @PeteHegseth admits, unprompted, that he hasn’t washed his hands in 10 years.
“Germs are not a real thing,” Pete says. “I can’t see them, therefore they’re not real.” pic.twitter.com/9hsAb9YA9j
The bizarre admission, which has since earned him deserved mockery across the internet, apparently came after his co-hosts chided him for eating pizza off-camera that had been left out since the day before. He copped to downing some slices, saying that pizza “lasts for a long time.” Emboldened, perhaps, after admitting his love for probably stale food, he announced his resolution to “say things on air that I say off air —which, it seems, includes the fact that he has apparently not washed his hands since roughly 2009.
“I inoculate myself,” he said in support of his being too lazy to spend 15 seconds rubbing soap on his hands and running them under water. “It’s just not—germs are not a real thing. I can’t see them, therefore they’re not real.”
The remarks, of course, were made somewhat in jest. But if he’s serious, he (unfortunately) wouldn’t be alone in his grossness. Some see a growing trend of dudes not washing their hands after using the restroom, with one study showing just 66% of Americans wash their hands after using public restrooms. One particularly disturbing study from last year suggested one-in-six men don’t even wash after taking a dump. Other surveys likely exist suggesting this exceedingly gross habit is a thing, but I am honestly too creeped out to look any further.
This goes without saying—or at least it should: You need to wash your hands. You should be doing it all the time: after you use the bathroom; when you’re handling food and eating; just for fun if you have a few minutes free, etc. It’s especially important during cold and flu season, when germs are waiting around every corner to knock you on your ass. If you need a refresher, please take quick look at our handy guide to hand washing.
We hope that Hegseth is joking. But if not, we highly recommend he reports to the nearest sink as soon as possible—and that his colleagues, for their benefit and for his, avoid shaking hands with him until he does.
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