Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ripped Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin on Thursday morning, saying his former colleague had “been about the worst” member of the press when it comes to covering the bombing of several Iranian nuclear facilities.
Hegseth, during the morning press conference, said Griffin was perhaps the most prominent reporter “who misrepresents what the president says” about the success of Operation Midnight Hammer.
His response came right after Griffin — who has been at Fox News for more than 25 years and is the channel’s chief national security correspondent — had asked about how effective the strikes had been.
“Do you have certainty that all the highly enriched uranium was inside the Fordow Mountain?” Griffin asked. “Are you certain none of that highly enriched uranium was moved?”
That question appeared to irritate Hegseth, leading to his response. President Trump has also been upset with outlets like CNN and The New York Times for casting doubt on how effective the operation was in recent days, calling the outlets “scum” for doing so.
CNN on Wednesday reported, based on an “early U.S. intelligence assessment,” that Iran’s nuclear program had only been set back by months, rather than “obliterated,” as the president had said. President Trump and other members of his Administration, including Marco Rubio and Tulsi Gabbard, have since said that report is bogus, with Gabbard saying U.S. intelligence shows the sites had been “destroyed.”
Hegseth on Thursday added to the Administration officials who blasted the media for doubting how effective the bombings were. The defense secretary even said the press “cheer[s] against Trump” and “hope the strikes weren’t effective.”
