Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday continued his massive public meltdown about the leaked Pentagon report that undermined Donald Trump’s claims about the strikes on Iran.
Hegseth opened the press conference by accusing reporters of “hunting for scandals,” causing them to “miss historic moments.”
“How many stories have been written about how hard it is to, I don’t know, fly a plane for 36 hours? Has MSNBC done that story? Has Fox?” Hegseth demanded.
He later sniped at reporters that “it’s like in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump.” “Let’s take half-truths, spun information, leaked information, and then spin it, spin it in every way we can to try to cause doubt and manipulate the public mind,” he ranted.
While taking questions, Hegseth snapped at Fox News’s Jennifer Griffin while struggling to dodge a question about Fordo, one of Iran’s most important nuclear enrichment sites, that Hegseth claimed had been completely destroyed by the U.S. strike last week.
“Do you have certainty that all of the highly enriched uranium was inside the Fordo mountain?” asked Griffin. “Because there were satellite photos that showed more than a dozen trucks there two days in advance. Are you certain that none of the highly enriched uranium was moved?”
CNN reported that two sources familiar with the Defense Intelligence Agency’s early assessment said that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium had not been destroyed, and another source said that it had been moved out of the sites ahead of the U.S. strikes.
“Of course we’re watching every single aspect,” Hegseth said. “But Jennifer, you’ve been about the worst. The one who misrepresents the most intentionally.”
Griffin, who is Fox’s chief national security correspondent at the Pentagon, looked taken aback. She explained that she’d been at the Pentagon Saturday night, where she’d accurately reported on the B-2 bombers and the ventilation shaft, which had been likely an entrance for a “bunker buster” bomb at Fordo.
“So, I take issue with that,” Griffin concluded.
Hegseth attacked another reporter who asked about CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s statement Wednesday that “new intelligence from a historically reliable and accurate source/method that several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years.”
“Don’t you think we need to see that?” asked the second reporter.
“Do you have a top secret clearance, sir?” Hegseth snipped.
“Eventually, the American public is going to want to see it,” the reporter replied.
Hegseth practically begged reporters to stop covering the leaked assessment, arguing that there were more patriotic things to be doing.
“We’re urging caution about premising entire stories on biased leaks to biased publications trying to make something look bad. How about we take a beat? Recognize first the success of our warriors, hold them up, tell their stories, celebrate that. Wave an American flag. Be proud of what we accomplished,” he said.
Trump applauded Hegseth in a post on Truth Social. “One of the greatest, most professional, and most ‘confirming’ News Conferences I have ever seen! The Fake News should fire everyone involved in this Witch Hunt, and apologize to our great warriors, and everyone else!” Trump wrote.
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