Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth raised eyebrows in Tuesday morning’s press briefing on the war in Iran.
The Pentagon chief told reporters the effort to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz was temporary and “separate and distinct” from the ongoing Operation Epic Fury, and Hegseth said the U.S. intended to hand over the responsibility for the waterway to other countries – which critics thought sounded like terms of surrender.
“Pete Hegseth announces we are about to surrender,” said Bluesky user Torquemada’s Kat.
“Hegseth admitting they broke something really, really important and have absolutely no plans to fix it,” opined popular Bluesky user Wendy the Woke.
“I was raised never to say ‘shut up,’” added journalist Lindsay Beyerstein. “But shut the f— up, Pete Hegseth. The US does not control the Strait of Hormuz. How can we tell? Because tankers are not flowing through it and Iran’s still got a tollbooth.
Hegseth also described Iran as “the clear aggressor,” which social media users held up as a lie.
“Is that why we attacked them first?” asked popular Bluesky user Philo of Alexan.
“A whopper of a lie. Putinesque,” snarled author and columnist David Rothkopf.
Others expressed doubts about the distinction between Operation Epic Fury and Project Freedom.
“Words have no meaning anymore,” marveled Zeteo’s Justin Baragona.
“Hegseth is such a ridiculous person,” sighed Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg.
“Two US-flagged commercial ships made through the Strait of Hormuz with two US destroyers, multiple combat helicopters, and thousands of personnel shooting projectiles and attack boats,” posted Nicholas Grossman, an international relations professor at University of Illinois. “I don’t think that’s what shipping and insurance companies had in mind by safe passage with profit worth the risk.”
“Bro said if we call timeout we get a re-do,” laughed X user dr00ch. “Lol f—— dolt.”
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