Social media metrics from the Pentagon reveal a stunning gap between two Defense leaders, with Pete Hegseth's posts under the Trump administration racking up numbers that make Lloyd Austin's efforts look like a whisper in a windstorm.
According to data exclusively obtained by Breitbart News, Hegseth, the current War Secretary, has outperformed Austin, the former Defense Secretary, by over 1000 percent in average post impressions and engagements. The raw numbers paint a picture of total online supremacy for the Department of War in 2025.
Looking at the specifics, from January 20 to September 18 in their respective years, Austin posted 427 original messages on X, while Hegseth posted slightly fewer at 358. Yet, the impact couldn't be more different, with Hegseth pulling in 10.6 million engagements compared to Austin's meager 971,000.
When it comes to impressions, the count of times posts were viewed, Hegseth's 365 million dwarfs Austin's 33.5 million over the same nine-month span. That's a 993 percent increase, showing how much broader Hegseth's reach has become under the current administration's strategy.
Even breaking it down to averages per post, the disparity grows sharper with Hegseth achieving a 1,204 percent higher impression rate per message. It's not just volume, it's efficiency, a sign that the messaging resonates far deeper with the public.
Total engagements for the Department of War in 2025 reflect a 987 percent jump over 2024, and average post engagements surged by 1,196 percent. These aren't small tweaks to a playbook, they signal a complete overhaul of how defense leadership communicates.
What kind of posts fueled this gap? Hegseth's top content included a call to prayer for Charlie Kirk after a shooting on September 10, alongside announcements like renaming Fort Bragg and deploying the National Guard to Los Angeles during violent riots.
Austin's standout posts, by contrast, leaned on foreign aid updates for Ukraine and a gushing tribute to Joe Biden's "leadership and statesmanship" after his 2024 campaign exit. That praise landed awkwardly, especially since Biden had just fumbled Austin's name in a BET interview, reducing him to "the black man."
It's hard not to see the disconnect in Austin's messaging, where gratitude to a floundering administration failed to spark the kind of fire Hegseth ignites with direct, urgent calls to action. One approach feels rooted in bureaucratic platitudes, the other in addressing crises head-on.
The backdrop to Austin's numbers was a desperate push for Biden's reelection, a campaign scrambling for traction on social platforms. Yet even with that urgency, the engagement remained flat, suggesting a tone-deaf strategy that couldn't cut through the noise.
Hegseth, operating in a different political climate, seems to tap into what people actually want to hear, whether it's honoring figures like Kirk or tackling domestic unrest. His posts don't just inform, they mobilize, a stark contrast to the previous team's output.
That 2024 campaign context for Austin makes the gap even more glaring, as a supposed high-stakes moment yielded such tepid results. Meanwhile, Hegseth's team has turned the Department of War into a digital juggernaut without apparent effort.
This isn't just about likes or shares, it's about who commands attention when it matters most. Hegseth's numbers suggest a public hungry for clarity and strength, not the recycled talking points Austin's tenure leaned on.
The progressive agenda often prides itself on mastering online spaces, yet here, it's the no-nonsense, action-focused messaging that wins by a country mile. Perhaps it's time for certain circles to rethink what "connecting with the people" really means.
In the end, these stats from X lay bare a truth: relevance isn't handed out, it's earned through content that matches the moment. Hegseth has cracked that code, while Austin's record serves as a cautionary tale of missed opportunities.
