Hegseth claimed the media is making Trump look bad by reporting US soldier deaths – then Leavitt denied it | indy100

'Stop That': Leavitt Spars With CNN's Kaitlin Collins On Coverage Of US …

Times of India - English / VideoElephant

Karoline Leavitt has faced criticism on social media after trying to deny that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared to suggest reporting on the deaths of US troops in the Iran conflict is the press “trying to make Donald Trump look bad”.

Leavitt spoke in front of reporters just hours after Hegseth’s press briefing at the Pentagon, in which he claimed that “fake news” outlets were failing to report on the US’s successes in the conflict done “without boots on the ground”.

Hegseth went on to say: “But when a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it's front page news. I get it - the press only wants to make the president look bad, but try for once to report the reality.”

On Sunday (1 March), six US service members were killed during an Iranian drone strike at a command center in Kuwait.

Then, Leavitt spoke on Wednesday (March 4) after CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked whether the Trump administration thought the press should cover the deaths of US soldiers.

Calling the question “disingenuous”, Leavitt said: “That’s not what the secretary meant.”

“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 and the damage it is doing to the rogue Iranian regime”

Both Hegseth's initial comments and Leavitt's take came in for criticism on social media

"These people are not just incompetent, they are heartless," one wrote.

Commentator Brian Krassenstein wrote: "They are officially telling us that what we saw with our eyes and heard with our ears did not happen.

"Welcome to Orwell’s 1984."

Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.