“The View” called Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s alleged orders to kill everyone aboard a suspected drug boat in Venezuela in a second strike is “flat out murder” while discussing how his actions could constitute a war crime.
“We’re not at war with Venezuela, but it’s murder. It’s flat out murder, and anyone that acted on those orders could be held on war crimes,” co-host Sara Haines explained during the show’s Monday show.
At the time, the panel was breaking down how Hegseth is now the subject of a congressional investigation regarding the alleged orders, which he reportedly celebrated in social media posts, but has since denied.
Watch the clip below.
Earlier in the conversation, Haines said Hegseth’s alleged actions are exactly why Democratic veterans urged military official to not act on illegal orders.
“They can refuse to act on order,”Haines said. “This is a situation where there were clearly, in the cameras, two men on parts of the explosion, and then they’re killed.”
Later on in their chat, co-host Sunny Hostin agreed with Haines, further breaking down how everyone involved in Hegseth’s orders could be held accountable.
“If this is deemed to be war crimes, which by all accounts, right now, there are seven sources that said Pete Hegseth did say ‘kill them all,’ even after there were two survivors,” Hostin explained. “What you’re supposed to do under international law, you’re supposed to take those fighters as war criminals, prisoners of war, and you’re supposed to give them refuge, and you’re supposed to take care of them and then you are supposed to put them into a court of law.”
She continued: “Instead, they killed them. That means the person who gave the order can be held accountable and put in prison, and that means the people who conducted the orders, who pulled the trigger, are also responsible and can be held accountable. So now you have people that are serving their country that are serving this country as patriots, perhaps following an illegal order, and then themselves can be court marshaled — imagine that.
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg chimed in to add that Hegseth has plotted against his own military.
“Well, what he’s done is he’s set them up,” Goldberg said. “He has set them up.”
