Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is facing strong criticism for his remarks during Friday’s press conference, where he lashed out at CNN’s war reporting before mentioning the four U.S. service members killed overnight.
Punchbowl News’ Briana Reilly reported, “Hegseth opens DOD briefing criticizing media coverage of the Iran war.”
“The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better,” Hegseth said of CNN and the CEO of Paramount Skydance, which is set to acquire the parent company of CNN.
Reilly also reported that the defense chief mentioned “the tragic crash” of the KC-135 aerial refueler that killed four service members at the end of his remarks.
On MS NOW, Willie Geist, speaking to co-host Jonathan Lemire, noted the contrast, saying that when General Caine took the mic he “immediately talked about the four American service members killed in Western Iraq.”
Geist also noted that it took Hegseth “several minutes” to mention them.
Hegseth, he added, “first complained about the media, whined, and started to rewrite cable news banners, suggesting what they should say versus what they have said based on reporting.”
“And then, later, got to the acknowledgement of the death of those four service members — sort of tells you the whole story about where his mind is, deeply worried about the way the war is being perceived, the way he’s being talked about, perhaps, that seemed to be throughout the briefing, front and center to him.”
Critics slammed Secretary Hegseth’s remarks.
“It seems Secretary Hegseth watches the ongoing tv coverage of Iran given the editorial criticism he opened the briefing with in regard to the on screen graphics/chyrons he’d prefer be used to describe the state of the battlefield,” noted CBS News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Margaret Brennan.
“Just confirms they expect the new [CNN] owner to serve as state sanctioned media. Only pushing the admin’s narrative,” observed attorney Fernando Antonio.
Barbara Starr, a former CNN Pentagon and national security reporter for two decades, blasted Hegseth:
“Listen up Mr. Defense Secretary. CNN has had personnel in combat zones for decades. CNN has had killed and wounded and all with lives changed forever. You have a legal and moral obligation to defend the free press, even the ones you don’t personally like,” she wrote.
She suggested that it would be “extraordinary” if he countered what he didn’t like with facts. “Flood the zone with actual information rather than vanity statements. Always possible Mr. Ellison wont appreciate your public comments about him,” she continued.
Starr added: “Bottom line for those busy looking at photos of themselves…the press corps will endure regardless of affiliation or ownership. All should be accredited and admitted to the Pentagon briefings regardless of affiliation. All any reporter needs is pencil, paper and a phone.”
Calling the Secretary’s remarks “Ominous,” political science professor Brendan Nyhan warned: “Competitive authoritarianism watch.”
Speaking to Hegseth’s David Ellison remark, health care activist and nonprofit cofounder Melanie D’Arrigo wrote: “Really shouting the quiet part out loud that Trump’s billionaire allies are buying up news publishers and controlling social media and AI platforms to push Trump’s lies and propaganda.”
Democratic congressional candidate Fred Wellman, a graduate of West Point and the Harvard Kennedy School, and an Army veteran of 22 years who served four combat tours, called Hegseth’s remarks “fascism.”