Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has posted a twisted parody that turns a character loved by children for decades into an armed killer.
Hegseth, 45, used his social media account to share a child-unsafe version of the Franklin the Turtle children’s book franchise. The mock title ‘Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists’ shows the usually gentle turtle standing on the edge of a helicopter, firing a missile at a boat.
The vessel, which is in the throes of exploding, has an armed person on board with two other boats, seemingly carrying drugs, nearby.
Hegseth’s caption on the Sunday post reads, “For your Christmas wish list…”
The Franklin books are written by Canadian Paulette Bourgeois, a former journalist, who launched the franchise in 1986. She began writing the first Franklin book while pregnant with her first child.
The successful franchise has now spawned dozens of books, a cartoon TV series that aired from 1997 to 2006, and animated films, including Back to School with Franklin and Franklin’s Magic Christmas.
The Daily Beast has contacted Bourgeois’ reps and the Pentagon for comment.
Hegseth posted the faux Franklin book to his personal X account, not his official “Secretary of War” profile.
The bizarre post, which has already had over 2.5 million views, follows President Trump defending Hegseth over claims he ordered a second fatal strike on a Venezuelan drug boat in the Caribbean.
Hegseth had reportedly ordered the follow-up strike to wipe out two survivors of an initial U.S. missile attack on the boat, as reported by The Washington Post on Thursday.
The publication cited two sources who said Hegseth’s spoken directive was “kill everybody,” referring to two people clinging onto the vessel.
During a press gaggle on Sunday, President Trump was asked if the second strike reportedly ordered by Hegseth to wipe out survivors would be legal.
“Number one, I don’t know that that happened,” Trump said on Air Force One. “And Pete said he did not want them… he didn’t even know what people were talking about. So we’ll look into it, but no, I wouldn’t have wanted that, not a second strike.”
He added, “The first strike was very lethal, it was fine, and if there were two people around… but Pete said that didn’t happen. I have great confidence in him.”
When asked to clarify if he was saying there was no second strike on the boat after his broken answer, Trump said, “I don’t know. I’m going find out about it, but Pete said he did not order the death of those two men.”
On Saturday, Hegseth called the Post’s story “fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory.”
“The declared intent is to stop lethal drugs, destroy narco-boats, and kill the narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people,” he wrote on X, saying the Biden administration had taken “the kid gloves” approach to dealing with them.
“The Trump administration has sealed the border and gone on offense against narco-terrorists. Biden coddled terrorists, we kill them.”
The post Pentagon Pete Posts Twisted Parody of Beloved Kid’s Character in Shock Strike appeared first on The Daily Beast.
