Pete Hegseth’s net approval rating of -22 puts his job at risk, polls show
CNN analyst Harry Enten says the figure matches past cabinet members who were later removed from office
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Photograph: U.S. Department of Defense via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
What this story says
- Pete Hegseth’s net approval rating stands at -22, the lowest among Donald Trump’s cabinet members.
- CNN data analyst Harry Enten said the figure matches past officials who were later removed from office.
- Quinnipiac University and Fox News polling data were cited as the source of the approval rating.
- No right-rated outlet carried the story, according to the reports below.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
62/100
Craft
51/100
Hype
41/100
6 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
None of the 6 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has the lowest net approval rating of any member of Donald Trump’s cabinet. The figure, reported as -22, comes from polling conducted by Quinnipiac University and Fox News. CNN data analyst Harry Enten said on 9 August 2026 that the rating matches those of previous cabinet members who were later removed from office.
Enten cited former Secretary Kristi Noem and former Attorney General Pam Bondi, whose net approval ratings fell to -16 and -22 respectively before they left the administration. Hegseth’s rating is lower than those of Vice President JD Vance (-17) and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (-9), as reported by Mediaite.
The reports below do not say whether Trump has commented on Hegseth’s approval rating or whether any action has been taken regarding his position. It is unclear what steps, if any, the administration has considered in response to the polling data.
What the coverage left out
None of the digests below mention whether the White House has responded to the polling data or whether Trump has commented on Hegseth’s approval rating. No right-rated outlet ran the story at all.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 5 times, most recently on 11 Aug 2026, 05:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
4 rated outlets
- The four left-rated digests led on Pete Hegseth’s net approval rating of -22 and the suggestion by CNN’s Harry Enten that the figure could put his job at risk. Alternet and The Daily Boulder both noted that the rating matches those of past cabinet members who were later dismissed. Mediaite quoted Enten’s warning that “red lights [are] flashing” over Hegseth’s job security.
- The New Republic’s digest focused on a separate incident: a video of Hegseth wiping his nose and then running his hand through his hair at a public event. The outlet described the footage as “the grossest thing you see all day” and said it reinforced criticism of Hegseth as acting like a child “playing army”.
Centre
2 rated outlets
- The two centre-rated digests led on the polling data and its implications for Hegseth’s position. Cleveland described his approval rating as the “lowest of the low” and said it indicated he may be the next to leave the administration. Political Wire reported that Hegseth had become “the least popular member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet” and listed the net approval ratings of other cabinet members, including JD Vance and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Right
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Read it at the source
6 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
4- You're fired: CNN reveals the magic number that gets Trump aides the boot (opens Alternet in a new tab)
- Trump’s entire cabinet hit with brutal poll — Pete Hegseth is the worst (opens The Daily Boulder in a new tab)
The Daily Boulder — is The Daily Boulder biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- ‘Red Lights Flashing!’ CNN Data Guru Issues Warning on Pete Hegseth’s ‘Job Security’ (opens Mediaite in a new tab)
- Watch Pete Hegseth Wipe Actual Snot in His Hair (opens The New Republic in a new tab)
The New Republic — is The New Republic biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
2Right
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Pete Hegseth’s net approval rating of -22 puts his job at risk, polls…?
- Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 67% are rated left, 33% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Pete Hegseth’s net approval rating of -22 puts his job at risk, polls… left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Pete Hegseth’s net approval rating of -22 puts his job at risk, polls… biased?
- Pete Hegseth’s net approval rating of -22 puts his job at risk, polls show is one event reported by 6 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Pete Hegseth’s net approval rating of -22 puts his job at risk, polls…?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Pete Hegseth’s net approval rating of -22 puts his job at risk, polls…?
- 6 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What is Pete Hegseth’s net approval rating?
- Pete Hegseth’s net approval rating is -22, the lowest among Donald Trump’s cabinet members. The figure comes from polling by Quinnipiac University and Fox News, and CNN analyst Harry Enten said it matches past officials who were later removed from office.
- Which outlets reported on Pete Hegseth’s approval rating?
- The story was reported by four left-rated outlets (Alternet, The Daily Boulder, Mediaite, The New Republic) and two centre-rated outlets (Cleveland, Political Wire). No right-rated outlet carried the story, according to the reports below.
- Has Donald Trump commented on Pete Hegseth’s approval rating?
- The reports below do not say whether Donald Trump or the White House has commented on Pete Hegseth’s net approval rating of -22. It is unclear whether the administration has considered any action in response to the polling data.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
