Examining meme comparing Hegseth’s speech backdrop to Hitler’s eagle imagery

On Oct. 3, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivered a speech at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Images from the speech of Hegseth with his arms spread wide in front of the Department of Defense’s eagle seal went viral, drawing comparisons to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and an official Nazi symbol. 

Snopes readers shared the images with us, asking to confirm whether such comparisons were accurate. One Facebook meme showed Hegseth in front of a simplified version of the DOD’s eagle seal without its traditional olive branch. Next to him, in a similar pose with his arms outstretched is Hitler in front of the “Reichsadler,” the eagle emblem of Nazi Germany. The accompanying caption stated: 

On Saturday, Hegseth traveled to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs to address the cadets.

As he walked on stage, the Department of War seal was visible behind him and on the podium in front of him.

Before he began, he raised both arms out to the side and told the cadets to take their seats.

That was all it took.

Within hours, critics were posting side-by-side images comparing the staging of the speech to old photos of Adolf Hitler speaking in front of an eagle emblem.

(Facebook user “Really American”)

The image of Hegseth showed signs of artificial intelligence editing in the form of garbled letters in the seals behind and in front of him, but video footage of the Oct. 3 speech shows that the content was not meaningfully altered. The accompanying image of Hitler, however, carries signs of heavy manipulation and was likely entirely generated by AI. 

That said, there are still other authentic photographs of Hitler that show him standing in front of a Nazi eagle emblem that in some ways resembles the new DOD one. 

Given the heavy manipulation of the Hitler image, we found the claim that the image of Hegseth closely resembled a real image of Hitler unfounded.

We reached out to the DOD to ask about the reason for the redesign and whether any resemblance to the Reichsadler was intentional. Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Joel Valdez said to us over email: “The American bald eagle is an icon of our country and used on many state and federal seals, including the seal of the Department of War. If for some reason you see imagery of a bald eagle and begin having delusions about Nazi Germany, then you may need to get your head checked for serious brain damage.”

The moment where Hegseth raised his arms wide occurred in the very beginning of his speech at the 5-second mark on the official DOD YouTube video. We captured a screenshot below:

(YouTube user “Department of War”)

The image of Hegseth in the Facebook post appears to have been edited or manipulated. The color is much brighter and the “M” behind Hegseth’s right arm appears misshapen. Hegseth’s face also appears different. The image itself is similar to its original YouTube video. 

There are several indications of AI generation in the purported photograph of Hitler. Firstly, the individuals on either side of him on the bottom left and right of the frame all have incomplete facial features, with sections of their heads cut off or blurred. The flags behind him also have inconsistent patterns that show signs of heavy editing or cropping. 

Real photographs of Hitler standing in front of flag poles show that, even on draped flags, the swastikas are recognizable. The two swastikas on either side of Hitler’s head are almost perfectly round circles. Considering they are placed over what could either be rounded pillars or curtains, they are clearly overlaid or heavily edited. 

We compared the image to real photographs of speeches Hitler made, and found none that resemble the room in the image from the meme. One authentic 1939 image on Getty Images shows Hitler speaking to the Reichstag, or German parliament, with a much larger eagle symbol and the Nazi symbols farther apart. Images of Hitler speaking at Nuremberg rallies do not align with the one in the above meme. Videos show that Hitler often spoke with his arms held wide, but there are no specific videos corresponding with the image in the above meme. 

Despite the above image of Hitler being heavily manipulated, Hegseth’s backdrop still has loose similarities to other real photographs of Hitler speaking in front of an eagle emblem. 

During Hegseth’s speech, many online noted the simplified (archived) version of the DOD seal, which removed the traditional olive leaves below the eagle, made the eagle’s design more angular and replaced the 13 stars above the eagle with five stars. 

We should note that the eagle symbol was used in Germany before and after the Nazi Party came to power. The DOD has been using the eagle seal since 1949. The DOD website, which still showed the version of the seal containing the olive branch as of this writing, explains its meaning thus: “The American bald eagle, long associated with symbolism representing the United States of America and its military establishment, has been selected as an emblem of strength. In facing to the right, the field of honor is indicated.”

Hegseth has also been in the news for his Sept. 30 “State of the Force” address, in which he announced he was creating an Office of Religious Affairs at the Pentagon and initiating “Project Meridian,” which he described as “an effort led by America’s best minds to study the future of warfare.”

Snopes has frequently reported on rumors about Hegseth and the Department of Defense. 

Sources