An Army veteran blasted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for politicizing the military and accused him of attacking the press more aggressively than he attacks America’s enemies.
Hegseth lashed out at reporters repeatedly during a Thursday news conference amid the fallout over a leaked preliminary intelligence assessment that found last weekend’s strikes on Iran had only set the country’s nuclear program back by a few months.
The defense secretary ranted at the press and called out news organizations and reporters by name, accusing them of “a great deal of irresponsible reporting based on leaks, preliminary information in low confidence.”
He and Trump have also claimed the reporting disrespects the troops.
Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq War veteran and founder of Independent Veterans of America, called Hegseth’s performance “conduct unbecoming” and said the administration was setting a dangerous precedent.
“He looks rattled. He obviously looks thin-skinned,” Rieckhoff told CNN’s Abby Phillip during Thursday’s episode of NewsNight. “He’s extremely aggressive and volatile.”
Rieckoff went on to say that asking the administration hard questions has nothing to do with the troops, and that Hegseth has continued to “conflate the war with the warriors.”
“It’s entirely separate, and they’re using it [the military] consistently as a very dangerous shield, which continues to politicize our military, which is their playbook now, which is very, very dangerous,” he said.
After the Vietnam War, the country worked hard to separate partisan politics from the people in uniform, he added.
Rieckoff also ripped into Hegseth and other administration officials for repeatedly berating journalists questioning the administration’s claims that Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated” in Saturday’s strikes on the Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan sites.
“He’s attacking the press. We need him to attack our enemies,” Rieckoff said. “I wish he attacked Vladimir Putin as aggressively as he attacked CNN and others.”
As for Iran’s nuclear program, “I don’t know if it was obliterated or not,” he added.
“But I do know what is being obliterated: the Constitution,” he said. “Congress has abdicated their responsibility to rein in a president when he’s engaging in combat.”
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