Controversial statements on Fox & Friends are nothing new, but while the show usually draws criticism for its conservative pundits, the latest shocking revelation comes from host Pete Hegseth, who said he has not washed his hands in 10 years because “germs are not a real thing – I can’t see them, therefore they’re not real”.
The admission came after co-host Jedediah Bila said Hegseth had eaten leftover pizza which had been sitting backstage since the previous day. Hegseth claimed his New Year’s resolution was to “say things on-air that I say off-air”, and went on to explain his unusual attitude towards personal hygiene.
“I inoculate myself,” he said, after Bila, who was sitting next to him on the sofa pleaded: “Someone help me."
Hegseth, a former military officer, doubled down on his assertion after the show, when he retweeted a fellow hand washing denier with the hashtag #DontWash.
However, he later implied he wasn't serious, by retweeting a post from MSNBC personality Chris Hayes who said that he was "pretty clearly joking".
In an interview with USA Today, Hegseth clarified that he was, in fact, joking. He also said the joke was supposed to be a piece of "half-hearted commentary".
"We live in a society where people walk around with bottles of Purell [hand sanitiser] in their pockets, and they sanitize 19,000 times a day as if that’s going to save their life," he said. "I take care of myself and all that, but I don’t obsess over everything all the time."
He also said that he thought the heated Twitter response was "ridiculous".
His initial comments are contrary to the findings of the scientific and medical community, which have long confirmed that microscopic germs and microbes are easily spread via skin contact, which can cause infections and diseases.
According to the Centre for Disease Prevention (CDC): “A single gram of human feces – which is about the weight of a paper clip – can contain one trillion germs.”
Salmonella and E.Coli are especially common in microscopic particles of human feces. Contamination can cause sickness which can be dangerous to children, pregnant people or the elderly.
US President Donald Trump, who regularly tweets praise for Fox & Friends, has yet to comment on the remarks. In 2017, Hegseth interviewed Trump, who has referred to himself as a “clean freak” in the past, saying that hand-shaking is “one of the curses of American society”.
Hegseth has been a Fox News contributor since 2014, and regularly appears on Fox & Friends, which is the number one cable news morning show in the US with around 1.7 million daily viewers.
