Pete Hegseth Argues Putin Doesn’t Take the U.S. Seriously Because ‘We’re Running Around Talking About Genders’

On Tuesday’s edition of The Five, Pete Hegseth said Russian President Vladimir Putin does not take the United States and its western allies seriously because they are distracted by culture war debates that divide society.

Putin ordered “peacekeeping” forces into eastern Ukraine under the pretext that the Donetsk and Luhansk breakaway regions are actually independent. The move caused an international uproar. In response, President Joe Biden announced the imposition of sanctions on Russia on Tuesday.

Cohost Jesse Watters posited a scenario to Hegseth in which Putin decides to invade NATO countries such as Poland or the Baltic states.

“You think Joe Biden’s gonna trigger Article 5 and send a massive amount of American soldiers into eastern Europe to defend Estonia?”

Hegseth replied in the affirmative.

“I actually think he would,” he said. “I think an attack on one is an attack on all. If there’s one thing that’s bulletproof about NATO, it’s that belief.”

Hegseth dinged European NATO members for allegedly slashing their military spending to finance their respective welfare states.

“I don’t think that Vladimir Putin believes his adversaries are fundamentally serious right now,” Hegseth continued. “He doesn’t believe the West is a serious civilization. We’re running around talking about genders, and reparations, and all of this. He sees us divided, he sees us as self-loathing, and as a result, he thinks this is his moment to make an aggressive move – because we may talk about Article 5, and we should, but would the American people truly support sending our boys halfway across the world to fight against Vladimir Putin? I think the elites would want us to do so, but the population in America would probably see it much differently.”

Watch above via Fox News.