Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News host whom Donald Trump nominated to be defense secretary, came under fire Tuesday during his Senate confirmation hearing, where he faced questions about his history of alleged sexual assault and excessive drinking, as well as his views on Women in the US military and its role in pardoning men accused of war crimes. But one particular moment of the 4.5-hour discussion caused a stir online: when he couldn’t name a single country in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who called Hegseth “unqualified,” has now gone viral and has millions of views on “Then she asks Hegseth if he could “name the importance of at least one of the nations in ASEAN and which ones.” type of agreement we have with at least one of these nations.” She adds: “And by the way, how many nations are there in ASEAN?”

Hegseth replies that he “couldn’t name the exact number of nations in it” before saying, “But I know we have allies in South Korea and Japan and in AUKUS with Australia…”

“None of these three countries you mentioned are part of ASEAN,” Duckworth interjected. “I suggest you do some homework before preparing for such negotiations.”

ASEAN, a bloc that has had diplomatic relations with the United States for nearly half a century, has 10 members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Although ASEAN is not a military alliance, the US maintains defense alliances with both the Philippines and Thailand, while Singapore is a key security cooperation partner.

Former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-Fla.) shared a recent clip on X questioning Hegseth’s suitability for the role. “Hegseth cannot name a single country that is part of ASEAN and he is not aware of any of the US international security agreements. “America, if you want peace and security, this is not the right thing!” she wrote.

Other social media users were also concerned about Hegseth’s faux pas. “This is simultaneously hilarious and horrifying,” one user wrote on X. “No great power in history has combined such immense imperial hubris with such profound ignorance of others.”

“From a basic knowledge standpoint, Pete Hegseth is completely unqualified for this job,” posted the anti-Trump organization Really American. VoteVets, a liberal advocacy group, called it a “mic drop” moment.

Read more: How Asia is preparing for Trump’s second term

But others came to Hegseth’s aid. “I have literally never heard of ASEAN and have followed geopolitics my entire life,” said one X user. “Sounds like they’re just asking him obscure, irrelevant case questions and then saying, ‘You should have prepared for that.'”

Former Rep. Peter Mejier (R-Mich.) wrote: “Ok, that’s stupid. Obviously Hegseth heard Asia, and if I had been in Hegseth’s shoes I would have said the same about Japan/South Korea/AUKUS – because it is not at all clear why Duckworth brings up ASEAN, a political and economic union, in the context of Indo-Pacific Defense agreement.” (AUKUS is a trilateral security partnership between Australia, Great Britain and the USA)

In response to a post by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) praising Hegseth’s overall performance in the confirmation hearing, another pointed out Who Should Know About Global Affairs? Oh, that’s right, a Secretary of Defense.”

But don’t just believe the Democrats. The “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” strategy, developed during Trump’s first term to counter China’s growing influence in the region, names ASEAN as an institution with which Washington would like to maintain close ties: “ASEAN is geographical Center of the Indo-Pacific and is at the heart of our vision.”