Gavin Newsom had some choice words to describe Pete Hegseth’s priorities on Wednesday.
The Democratic California governor called out the Defense Secretary for his focus on the media’s reporting of the six American military personnel killed as a result of President Donald Trump’s surprise war on Iran, where he said, “The press only wants to make the president look bad.”
Newsom, no stranger to lambasting the Trump administration on social media, expressed his disappointment at Hegseth’s fixation on news outlets’ coverage of the service members killed in action.
“6 U.S. service members are dead and Pete’s takeaway is that the real tragedy is bad press for Trump,” Newsom, 58, wrote in a post on X, in response to a video clip of Hegseth’s rant.
“This is what the fake news misses,” Hegseth, 45, said during a Wednesday Pentagon update, highlighting the “success” of the American military action in Iran dubbed “Operation Epic Fury.”
“But when a few drones get through, or tragic things happen, it’s front-page news,” he continued. “I get it. The press only wants to make the president look bad.”
The Daily Beast reached out to Newsom’s office for comment.
Reached for comment, the Pentagon referred the Daily Beast to comments made by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins sparred with Leavitt on Wednesday over the former Fox & Friends Weekend host’s comments, asking if the press is discouraged from reporting on the loss of American combatants.
“Given what Secretary Hegseth said this morning, is it the position of this administration that the press should not prominently cover the deaths of U.S. service members?” Collins, 33, asked Leavitt during Wednesday’s press conference.
“No, it’s the position of this administration that the press in this room and the press across the country should accurately report on the success of Operation Epic Fury,” Leavitt, 28, said.
“Secretary Hegseth was complaining that it was front-page news about these six service members who were killed,” Collins replied.
“That’s not what the secretary said, Kaitlan, and that’s not what the secretary meant, and you know it. You know you are being disingenuous,” Leavitt said.
Collins then quoted Hegseth’s exact words back to Leavitt, who said, “The press does only want to make the president look bad—especially you, and especially CNN.”
“You and your network know that you take every single thing this administration says and tries to use to make the president look bad,” Leavitt continued. “That is an objectable fact.”
“I don’t think covering troop deaths is trying to make the president look bad,” Collins said.
Since U.S. and Israeli forces launched a joint aerial bombing campaign on Iran on Saturday, which resulted in the death of the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, six American military personnel were reported to have been killed in action.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon identified four of the fallen soldiers who died on March 1 in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait: Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, and Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20.
Iranian state media reported on Wednesday that the death toll has risen to 1,045 since attacks began on Saturday.
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