The MAGA world is up in arms over supposed criticism of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s wife—criticism that barely seems to exist.
Before Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner erupted into gunfire, Hegseth’s wife, Jenny Rauchet, posed alongside her Trump appointee-husband in a dress from a fast-fashion giant.
Rauchet appears to have traded in the “Made in America” movement for a silky blush dress currently listed for $42 on fast-fashion platforms Shein and Temu, as first reported by the Daily Mail.
Both controversial companies have faced a host of allegations, including forced labor, environmental damage, and toxic chemicals. In the hours after the Daily Mail’s report, the MAGA-verse sharpened their knives—for criticism that never came.
“OMG, she wore a dress you didn’t like, and it was reasonably priced. Check your privilege,” one X user wrote in response to the Mail’s article, which said that the former Fox News producer “stunned” in her “curvehugging” dress.
“If she were a Democrat, they’d be calling her a savvy shopper. She looks beautiful whatever it cost,” another X user added.
It’s unclear who “they” are, as there was little criticism of Rauchet, 41, online on Monday.
“The champagne socialists are the most miserable people on earth,” another person added in response to no one in particular.
Representatives for Rauchet did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for clarification on the dress’s origins.
Hegseth and Rauchet met at Fox News—when Hegseth was still married to his second wife, Samantha Deering. Rauchet was a producer on Fox and Friends Weekend, where Hegseth was a co-host, and they began an extramarital affair that reportedly led to Rauchet being moved to another show, Watters World.
Hegseth, for his part, has a long history of affairs. He was married to his first wife, Meredith Schwarz, when he began dating Deering. In fact, he has admitted to having five affairs during his first marriage.
Rauchet became pregnant with Hegseth’s child in early 2017, and two months before she gave birth, Hegseth was accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a conference in Monterey.
Hegseth told an investigator the sex was consensual, but he agreed to pay his accuser $50,000 as part of a confidentiality agreement. Rauchet stood by Hegseth and married him in 2019, once his second divorce was finalized.
The couple was in the room at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday when gunfire erupted. Video footage from several angles shows Hegseth being evacuated moments after 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen attempted to storm the ballroom at the Washington Hilton.
Allen sent a sprawling manifesto to his family moments before attempting to storm the premises, outlining an alleged plan to kill Trump and top administration officials.
Despite that, other MAGA leading ladies decided to show off their glam from the botched event. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt paired an angry rant with a close-up of her glam from Saturday’s event.
“Thank you @adriennegraymua for the beautiful glam! (for what should have been a beautiful night,)” she wrote, adding a house remix of a pop tune to the post.
Katie Miller, the wife of senior White House aide Stephen Miller, also shared a photo of her pink dress.
“An unforgettable night at the White House Correspondents Dinner with @stephenm,” she wrote.
