Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) triggered outrage from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after he called President Donald Trump’s war in Iran a “quagmire.”
“Secretary Hegseth, you have been lying to the American public about this war from day one, and so has the President,” Garamendi said during a House Armed Services Committee budget hearing on Wednesday. “You have misled the public about why we are at war. You and the President have offered ever-changing reasons for this war. You’ve misled the public about the progress of the war.”
“This war of choice is a political and economic disaster at every level,” he continued. “The President has got himself and America stuck in the quagmire of another war in the Middle East. He’s desperately trying to extricate himself from his own mistakes.”
Hegseth responded by calling Garamendi “reckless.”
“When I said reckless, feckless, and defeatist of congressional Democrats at the beginning, that came after watching you say the same thing on CNN this morning, a quagmire,” the Defense secretary gasped. “My generation served in a quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan, years and years of nebulous missions and utopian nation building that led us to nothing.”
“Congressman, you should know better. Shame on you calling this a quagmire two months in!” he exclaimed. “You call it a quagmire, handing propaganda to our enemies, shame on you for that statement.”
Hegseth complained that Garamendi had said he supported the troops while calling the conflict in Iran a quagmire.
“That’s a false equivalation!” he grumbled. “Who are you cheering for here? Who are you pulling for?”
“And you sit there and go on TV for your clickbait about quagmires!” Hegseth added. “Your hatred for President Trump blinds you to the truth of the success of this mission and the historic stakes that the president is addressing, which the American people support. Iran’s been at war with us for 47 years! You want to talk about a forever war?”
“For two months, this president has stared them down. He’s going to get a better deal than anyone ever has and ensure that Iran never has a nuclear weapon. I know the American people support that mission, despite your loose talk and words like quagmire!”
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