Just a day after Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said that scores of right-wing outlets would make up the “next generation” of the Pentagon press corps, Infowars announced that host Breanna Morello will be among “the 60 journalists that will combat the fake news stranglehold of legacy media.”
Morello, who describes herself a former Fox Corp. and Newsmax employee, said Thursday while hosting Infowars’ “American Journal” that she looked forward to joining outlets “who’ve done more to hold the federal government accountable over the last five years” than their mainstream counterparts.
The Defense Department told the Washington Post that Morello will be credentialed as an independent journalist, not on behalf of Infowars, which highlighted her move on Thursday.
Morello also told TheWrap that she is “not an employee” of Infowars, but “an independent journalist.” (She has a site called Independent Newsroom.)
“Here come the hit pieces, folks,” Morello said on air. “We’re not backing down anytime soon. It is an honor to replace those former colleagues of mine over at Fox and other outlets, of course, who decided that they were not going to make their way into the press pool and sign that agreement.”
Morello, whose X bio lists her location as Texas, said she would not be moving to Washington, D.C.
The influx of conservative journalists and influencers follows dozens of traditional media outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post and Associated Press, turning in their badges over a new Pentagon policy prohibiting reporters from trying to “solicit” information from military officials without authorization, drawing swift accusations that the Pete Hegseth-led Defense Department was attempting to stymie press freedoms.
Fox News also rejected the restrictions, joining CNN, ABC, NBC, and CBS to call the policy “without precedent” and one that “threatens core journalistic protections.” Several other outlets on the right, such as Newsmax, the Washington Times and the Washington Examiner, refused to sign the new policy, too.
Some of the other far-right outlets that did sign include Gateway Pundit, Turning Point USA’s media venture Frontlines and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s LindellTV.
This post was updated with Morello’s comments.
