Clooney rips Hegseth’s post knocking Canadian military: ‘What’s wrong with you?’

George Clooney is ripping Pete Hegseth and questioning his “sense of decency” after the Defense secretary appeared to poke fun at Canada’s military in a social media post.

“You see what the secretary of Defense just tweeted out a picture about women from the military in Canada, and you’re going, ‘What’s wrong with you?'” Clooney told reporters in remarks at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday, where the “Good Night, and Good Luck” star was being honored with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.

“Where’s the sense of decency in all of this?” Clooney asked.

The 65-year-old actor’s comments came after Hegseth on Monday posted a photo and caption on the social platform X seemingly mocking the physical appearance of some of the Canadian military’s cadets.

Hegseth’s post featured a screenshot of an Instagram post from a branch of Canada’s Cadet Program that highlighted some recipients of awards in the Canadian military’s youth program.

“(this is real),” Hegseth posted, along with an emoji of a Canadian flag. The message came amid a trade dispute and heightened tensions between the U.S. and Canada.

Referring to Hegseth’s post, Clooney said, “I’m ashamed of all that.”

“The idea that cruelty is the base — that being cruel and unkind is part of the fun of all of this,” he said.

“But we will get through it, and we will come out better on the other side,” Clooney said.

Asked by a journalist how he views the U.S., Clooney replied, “I’m always very optimistic about things, and I do believe that … we’re at a moment in time that’s unfortunate — I think that’s a understatement. I do believe that we’re going to get through all of this.”

“I’m old enough to have been through 1968 in the states, when every city in the United States was set on fire, and we lost Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. The same year, there was tons of violence. The capital was surrounded with tanks,” the Academy Award winner said.

“We’ve had some other difficult times, but this is one of them,” Clooney said.

“There’s a great word: kakistocracy, which is a country run by the least qualified people,” continued Clooney, a critic of President Trump and a top Hollywood fundraiser for Democrats.

“I think maybe we have a kakistocracy right now, but we’ll get through it,” he said.

Clooney, who in a 2024 New York Times op-ed called on then-President Biden to drop out of that year’s White House race on account of age-related concerns, expressed optimism about the next midterm and presidential elections.

“We will have an election in November that should be a check and balance,” he said.

“And then in 2028, with any luck, we’ll have some restoration into some normalcy.”