“The View” co-host Sara Haines joined a chorus of critics on Friday taking aim at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plan to require testosterone testing for service members over 30.
Hegseth announced the plan Wednesday with a short video on X that he captioned “The High-T Department of War.” The testing, he said in the clip, will become part of service members’ annual medical examinations and determine if they “have the right testosterone levels” to perform at their “absolute best.”
“It’s well-established science that as we age, testosterone levels often naturally drop,” he added.
The announcement quickly drew a fair amount of criticism, both in the media and online, with many suggesting Hegseth was projecting his personal insecurities about masculinity by proposing such a rule.
On Friday’s episode of “The View,” Haines echoed those sentiments and shared a cheeky suggestion about what she thinks the Defense Department’s next logical step could be.
“What are they doing next, measuring penis size?” she quipped. “This feels like the manosphere is in charge of the military. It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, and by the way, bursts of testosterone don’t end well for anyone.”
Haines then pointed to news footage of a bison chasing and attacking a 65-year-old man at Yellowstone National Park earlier this week ― an event which she said took place during the traditional mating season for bison.
“The bison had a burst of testosterone,” she said, noting that the man had to be hospitalized but was expected to recover from the incident.
Thus far, the Department of Defense has not provided additional details on how the test requirement will be rolled out, and Hegseth has not said whether female service members would also be tested.
The defense secretary has notably been critical of the idea of women serving in combat roles, only to soften his rhetoric before being sworn in. Earlier this year, he reportedly removed all the female officers and half of the Black officers from a list of people eligible for promotion in the Navy.