India, Oct. 5 -- US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has found himself at the centre of a fierce online controversy after an address delivered to cadets at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado featured an angular eagle backdrop that critics quickly compared to Nazi-era iconography.

The speech, which took place over the weekend, drew immediate viral attention across social media platforms where commentators published side-by-side comparisons linking the podium's stylised graphic design and Hegseth's stage gestures to historical footage of Adolf Hitler.

The unexpected visual storm has added fuel to an already polarised political climate surrounding the Department of War's public messaging and leadership style.

The uproar intensified as prom...