Washington DC - The Department of Defense (DOD) recently shared a meme on social media in praise of its leader, Secretary Pete Hegseth, but it didn't go over with users as well as the department expected.

On Friday, the DOD Rapid Response X account shared a cartoon image of Hegseth standing with his hand raised defiantly in front of a trio of evil drug smugglers, along with the caption "100% Operational Control."

The image appears to be inspired by heroic realism – a form of art typically used throughout history for political propaganda, which is mostly associated with socialist and fascist regimes.

The post has gotten a significant amount of criticism, with one X user describing it as "Next level cringe that doesn't actually accomplish anything."

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But what caught the attention of most users was the fact that Hegseth's hand in the image was missing its pinky – a clear indication that it was created using artificial intelligence.

Tons have since shared their own AI-generated versions of the image. Republican Congressman Jack Kimble shared one featuring Hegseth, who has a reported history of excessive alcohol use, holding liquor bottles, with the added caption ".10 Blood Alcohol."

Hegseth has been facing heat in recent weeks after he was caught twice discussing military operations in unsecured Signal chats.

It was heavily speculated that President Donald Trump would fire Hegseth over the mishap, but he has since dismissed such rumors as "FAKE NEWS."