The Battle for Truth
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attacks the media to please Trump. This hostility cannot be normalized.
Badger, berate, attack, attack, attack. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who clearly places his fealty to Donald Trump above all else, stood before the Pentagon press corps yesterday to tell them what a terrible job they are doing by refusing to pay unquestioning tribute to the president.
His sneering, snotty, ranting performance—utterly devoid of the kind of calm, measured, thoughtful information and attitude we should expect from a defense secretary with power over life and death—was of course just what his boss wanted. It was hyperbolic, histrionic and angry. (You can read the press conference transcript here.)
“President Trump directed the most complex and secretive military operation in history…decimating, choose your word, obliterating, destroying Iran's nuclear capabilities,” Hegseth nearly shouted, adding later that it was “an historically successful attack” and refuting a leaked preliminary Defense Intelligence Agency report that contradicted Trump’s claims that Iran’s nuclear capabilities were “completely and totally obliterated.”
Hegseth was just warming up, speaking to an audience of one: “…you cheer against Trump so hard, it's like in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump because you want him not to be successful so bad, you have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes. You have to hope maybe they weren't effective.”
Hegseth condemned the reporting of the intel assessment, which notes that a more accurate picture could take weeks, as the stuff of “half truths, spun information, leaked information” exploited by the press “to try to cause doubt and manipulate the mind—the public mind over whether or not our brave pilots were successful. How many stories have been written about how hard it is to, I don't know, fly a plane for 36 hours?”
It’s one thing for Hegseth to gaslight the public in order to reject the press coverage by claiming journalists failed to acknowledge the skill and bravery of American pilots. But it’s a more fundamental problem for this former Fox weekend host to prioritize his loyalty to Trump over respecting the freedom of the press and its duty to provide the public factual information. This is un-American.
(It should be noted that Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, did offer a more precise and skillful summary of the history of the massive bunker-busting bomb and hesitated to assert the results of the operation without proper intelligence.)
Of course, Hegseth’s commander-in-chief could not have been more pleased by his hostile show. “One of the greatest, most professional, and most ‘confirming’ News Conferences I have ever seen!” Trump posted. “The Fake News should fire everyone involved in this Witch Hunt, and apologize to our great warriors, and everyone else!”
An hour later, still in meltdown mode, he posted, in all caps, “Fake news reporters from CNN & The New York Times should be fired, immediately!!! Bad people with evil intentions!!!”
This came a day after he couldn’t stay on script at the NATO summit in The Hague. Once again, he attacked the media for refusing to fall in line with his unreliable assertions within hours of the bombing that the mission “totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, claiming that this skepticism was an attack on the pilots.
“You know, they were maligned and treated very badly,” he said on the global stage. “Demeaned by fake news, CNN, which is back there, believe it or not, wasting time and wasting—and nobody's watching them, so they're just wasting a lot of time. Wasting my time. And The New York Times, they put out a story that, well, maybe they were hit, but it wasn't bad.”
The aggrieved bloviating was not done. “All of these terrible people, you know, they have no credibility,” he went on. “You know, when I started they were at 94 percent credibility. The media now it's at 16 percent, and I'm very proud of it because I've exposed it for what it is.”
I always hesitate detailing all of these remarks. We’ve heard his attacks on the media before, ad nauseum, and we’ll hear them again (and again). But the need to push back against this regime’s hostility to facts and data remains critical.
Not only are his operatives bent on feeding Trump’s narcissistically fragile ego with whatever will make him feel like a strongman and a winner—facts be damned—his regime is busy stripping our government and we the people of basic information that allows us to make rational decisions.
This can be seen in major funding cuts planned for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that provides weather forecasting and conducts and coordinates weather and climate research. This also can be seen in cutting education data that communicates how the U.S. is doing in preparing students to succeed in a global economy.
In both cases (just two of many), this represents the authoritarian impulse to deny there is a problem (like climate change or declining student performance) by refusing to gather the data. As noted by EdTrust, an education website, “When the dust settles from the educational chaos being created by the Trump administration, students—especially students from low-income backgrounds, students of color, students with disabilities, English learners, and students in rural areas—will be worse off, and the Trump administration wants to make sure you don’t have the data and research to prove it.”
Make no mistake: We are in a fierce battle over the truth in America, a battle in which Trump has scapegoated the media with increased hostility in this second term. Too many of those in positions of power and wealth who could push back have chosen to either openly capitulate to the lies of Trump or—just as dangerously—ignore what’s happening in order to maintain their comfortable lifestyles or avoid conflict.
For those of us who recognize the danger of this regime’s rejection of the rule of law, the Constitution and factual reality in order to consolidate their power, the anger displayed by thin-skinned Trump and Hegseth this week is a reminder that they only win if fearless news reporters and a strong independent media refuse to question what they say and do.
For the next few days, I am listening to a wide variety of thoughtful political and economic leaders and other smart observers at the Aspen Ideas Festival. I intend to share with you some of what I have heard. But I will say now that I am concerned that too many of the speakers—in their effort to explore ideas with affluent audiences from across the political spectrum—are minimizing the dangers currently facing our country. We cannot pretend we are living in normal times.
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Our voices, individually and collectively need to be continually raised and focused against this relentless and malignant spew. But more than that, we need to also actively support those who are supporting these efforts. Keep going, Steve. Keep going all.
Sickening. Trump's cruel and unqualified lackeys are all sickening. Scream and shout, you liars, it won't do any good. Let people see how unhinged you really are. As my soft-spoken father used to say, shouting about something doesn't make it so. Curse, bluster, blame, scream--you're still lying. I don't think Hegseth is going to make Pentagon reporters go away or to stop doing their jobs.