At a Pentagon press conference on Thursday morning, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth desperately tried to hide behind the competence and skill of the American military as he attempted to spin negative news about President Donald Trump’s decision to bomb Iran.
The Trump administration has been under fire after a leaked early assessment of the attack from the Pentagon indicated that the setback to Iran’s nuclear program was not as severe as Trump’s repeated claim that the program was completely obliterated.
Hegseth fumed at the press for reporting useful information to the public.
“Because you cheer against Trump so hard, it’s in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump, because you want him not to be successful so bad, you have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes,” Hegseth said to the press
Hegseth complained that “half-truths” were being released and “spun” to damage Trump, and claimed that doing so insulted the military members who executed the missions in Iran.
At another point in the press conference, Hegseth even complained about Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin’s coverage of the attack, describing her as “about the worst” on the issue and “the one who misrepresents the most intentionally.” Hegseth, who formerly worked at Fox News, was once Griffin’s coworker.
The characterization is even stranger following reports that Fox News appears to have been a major motivator behind Trump’s decision to attack Iran.
Hegseth also echoed Trump’s recent complaints on the same topic. The president called the press “scum” for reporting on the shortcomings of the strikes in Iran.
Adding fuel to the fire, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei released a video on Thursday and claimed that the strikes had not been as effective as Trump said. There have not been independent assessments to validate either leader’s claims, and both regimes have significant credibility problems.
Trump and Hegseth have spent their careers as public figures repeating lie after lie. For instance, Trump clings to the falsehood that he won the 2020 election despite clear evidence that he lost both the popular vote and Electoral College to former President Joe Biden. Trump also infamously promoted the racist and false “birther” conspiracy theory that former President Barack Obama was not born in the U.S.
Hegseth’s invocation of military honor while spinning the bombing run is especially ironic since he himself compromised national security early in his tenure as defense secretary. Hegseth published the details of an upcoming military operation in a Signal group chat that inadvertently included a journalist, causing domestic and international embarrassment for the administration and the Pentagon.
When Hegseth isn’t bumbling through basic aspects of his job, he has pushed bigotry at the Department of Defense and reportedly spent government resources to make himself look better when appearing on Fox News.
The new spin attempt comes on the same day NBC News released a poll showing that a plurality of Americans (45%) oppose the U.S. military strikes on Iran, with only 38% supporting them and 18% not choosing either side. The poll echoes surveys taken in the immediate aftermath of the bombing, and polls taken before the attacks showed opposition to U.S. military intervention.
Americans largely don’t want this, and the early signs are that the strike didn’t deliver what Trump said it had. That is why Hegseth is spinning so hard and getting so upset in the process.