Guno צְבִי
We fight, We win, Am Yisrael Chai
When it comes to the Iran war and the updates he is tasked to provide, he’s most comfortable in front of a journalistic audience, where he can yell and berate people for “being negative” any time they ask anything that sounds too much like an actual question. But today, poor old Pete had to testify in Congress before the experts on the House Armed Services Committee. It’s a place where questions aren’t just allowed, but also follow-up questions.
The Independent
Hegseth explodes after Democrat accuses him of misleading country into 'disaster' Iran war
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Pete Hegseth is struggling: that much has been clear for a while.
When it comes to the Iran war and the updates he is tasked to provide, he’s most comfortable in front of a journalistic audience, where he can yell and berate people for “being negative” any time they ask anything that sounds too much like an actual question. But today, poor old Pete had to testify in Congress before the experts on the House Armed Services Committee. It’s a place where questions aren’t just allowed, but also follow-up questions.
And this is where he completely unraveled. Because follow-up questions really are Pete Hegseth’s kryptonite.
Take, for example, an early exchange between him and Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.). Now that the Strait of Hormuz is still closed (our blockade of their blockade), the economy is in freefall, and the nuclear arsenal of Iran still hasn’t been decimated, what’s the Pentagon’s strategy, Smith asked? What happens next?
Hegseth’s immediate response: “I take issue with the premise of the question.” He then attempted to launch into a rote response about “other administrations that cut bad deals,” but Smith interrupted, calmly: “OK. What’s the plan?”
In between this and another question, Hegseth made the absolutely incredible assertion that “the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans." It was a misstep, and a costly one so early in the game.
Those very congressional members pressed him on it again and again over the next 40 minutes. By repetition alone, it became clear to everyone in the room exactly how foolish those words sounded — about as foolish as the deeply silly aside made by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was tasked with referring to a valued member of the military as “an AmeriCAN, not an AmeriCAN’T.”
Hegseth began to bare his teeth and shout. Asked about the length of the war, he pulled out manufactured outrage, talking about how his generation served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that was a quagmire, and “you stain the troops” by suggesting this war has been going on too long. “Who you cheering for?” he yelled, adding, “Your hatred for President Trump blinds you to the truth of the success of this mission!” In the quiet, unostentatious room, his words sounded flat, eerie, cult-like. They did not project the power he must’ve hoped that they would.
Hegseth explodes after Democrat accuses him of misleading country into 'disaster' Iran war
Video Player is loading.
Pete Hegseth is struggling: that much has been clear for a while.
When it comes to the Iran war and the updates he is tasked to provide, he’s most comfortable in front of a journalistic audience, where he can yell and berate people for “being negative” any time they ask anything that sounds too much like an actual question. But today, poor old Pete had to testify in Congress before the experts on the House Armed Services Committee. It’s a place where questions aren’t just allowed, but also follow-up questions.
And this is where he completely unraveled. Because follow-up questions really are Pete Hegseth’s kryptonite.
Take, for example, an early exchange between him and Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.). Now that the Strait of Hormuz is still closed (our blockade of their blockade), the economy is in freefall, and the nuclear arsenal of Iran still hasn’t been decimated, what’s the Pentagon’s strategy, Smith asked? What happens next?
Hegseth’s immediate response: “I take issue with the premise of the question.” He then attempted to launch into a rote response about “other administrations that cut bad deals,” but Smith interrupted, calmly: “OK. What’s the plan?”
In between this and another question, Hegseth made the absolutely incredible assertion that “the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans." It was a misstep, and a costly one so early in the game.
Those very congressional members pressed him on it again and again over the next 40 minutes. By repetition alone, it became clear to everyone in the room exactly how foolish those words sounded — about as foolish as the deeply silly aside made by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was tasked with referring to a valued member of the military as “an AmeriCAN, not an AmeriCAN’T.”
Hegseth began to bare his teeth and shout. Asked about the length of the war, he pulled out manufactured outrage, talking about how his generation served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that was a quagmire, and “you stain the troops” by suggesting this war has been going on too long. “Who you cheering for?” he yelled, adding, “Your hatred for President Trump blinds you to the truth of the success of this mission!” In the quiet, unostentatious room, his words sounded flat, eerie, cult-like. They did not project the power he must’ve hoped that they would.
