Drag queen Pattie Gonia calls out Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth with bench press video: "You could never"
Drag queen and environmental activist Pattie Gonia has gone viral after posting a video of herself bench-pressing 130 lbs in full drag, directly taunting Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
In the video, Gonia completes a set and addresses Hegseth directly: "Anyway, here's me benching 130 with perfect form with my d*ck tucked. You could never, you little b**ch."
Pattie Gonia has been posting workout response videos aimed at Hegseth for months now, each one following the same formula: react to one of Hegseth's exercise clips, then do the same exercise in drag while criticizing his form.
It started in November 2025, when Gonia responded to a resurfaced clip of Hegseth doing pull-ups. She filmed herself doing pull-ups at a local park and addressed him directly, finishing the set with: "That's fifty, you little b**ch." That video picked up over 600,000 likes on Instagram.
In January 2026, she posted another response, this time targeting Hegseth's kettlebell swing technique, saying it was "pretty crazy that the US Navy couldn't teach you this and then a drag queen has to."
Why Hegseth?
Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News host turned Trump-appointed Secretary of Defense (who has rebranded the title to "Secretary of War"), has been a frequent target of online criticism over his stances on LGBTQ+ issues and military culture.
Since taking office in January 2025, Hegseth has pushed for banning transgender people from the military, rolled back DEI initiatives within the Department of Defense, paused gender-affirming care for service members, and suggested women could be excluded from combat roles, arguing the military should hold personnel to "the highest male standard only."
He's also been posting regular workout videos from military bases, including clips of himself bench-pressing and doing pull-ups alongside service members.
Who is Pattie Gonia?
Pattie Gonia is the drag persona of Wyn Wiley, a 33-year-old queer environmentalist. Wiley was named one of Time magazine's Next Generation Leaders in 2023 and a National Geographic Traveler of the Year in 2024. She uses she/they pronouns while in drag.
Outside the Hegseth videos, Gonia is known for environmental activism. In August 2025, she was part of a team that hung a 66-foot-wide trans flag on El Capitan in Yosemite, and in December 2025, she raised over $1.1 million for environmental nonprofits by completing a 100-mile trek from Point Reyes to San Francisco in drag.