More like the secretary of defensiveness. Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff and Michigan Democratic Sen. Gary Peters grilled Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over Iran so hard that the former Fox News host eventually had a meltdown.
Ossoff warmed things up for Peters by utilizing a pretty effective tactic — using Hegseth’s own words about the war against him.
“On Day 14 of this conflict, Mr. Secretary, Day 14, nearly five months ago, you stated that Iran’s military had been ‘destroyed’ and ‘made combat-ineffective,’” Ossoff began. “That was on Day 14 of the war. Was that an accurate statement?”
Hegseth responded that they did not have “a Navy any longer,” adding it was “completely sunk” and “missiles were buried underneath a lot of their underground facilities and their defense industrial base has been almost completely destroyed.”
“So, as far as a military assessment of Iran’s capabilities, it didn’t mean by any stretch of the imagination absolute zero—” Hegseth said, but Ossoff cut him off.
“Mr. Secretary, you stated that on Day 14 of this conflict, on the second week of the conflict, you stated that Iran’s military had been ‘destroyed’ and ‘made combat-ineffective.’ Was that an accurate statement, yes or no?” Ossoff repeated.
Hegseth began to dance around the question again by speaking about “Iran’s ability to challenge the United States of America at the level at which we’re capable of—” when Ossoff calmly shut him down again. “That’s not what I asked you, Mr. Secretary,” Ossoff said before repeating his question using Hegseth’s own words for a third time.
“What the American military has done to the Iranian military-” Hegseth said after a beat. “Will you answer the question?” Ossoff cut in again. After a bit of back-and-forth, the senator switched gears by quoting a few other things Hegseth had said about the war.
“Three weeks later, you declared victory. That was now nearly four months ago,” Ossoff said. “Three weeks after you had already said Iran’s military was destroyed and combat-ineffective, you said, ‘Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory.’ You said Iran’s military had been rendered ‘combat-ineffective for years to come.’ And you stated we have, ‘achieved every single objective.’ Were those accurate statements?”
“It certainly was, on behalf of the men and women in uniform, a historic military victory over Iran,” Hegseth insisted. “Had Iran’s military been rendered ‘combat-ineffective for years to come’?” Ossoff asked once again. This went on and on — with Ossoff throwing a few more of Hegseth’s former claims in his face and Hegseth deflecting — before Ossoff finally got fed up and called out the defense secretary.
“So, just to review. You will not answer whether your statement made on the 14th day of the war that Iran’s military had been ‘destroyed’ and made ‘combat ineffective’ was a truthful statement to the American people, as you sit here and ask for tens to billions more for the conflict?” Ossoff asked, but ran out of time before Hegseth could give an actual answer.
Next up was Peters, who didn’t have to do much to make an already wound-up Hegseth blow up.
Peters pointed out to Hegseth that the country is now economically worse off than it was before the war started, and stressed that US service members “we care deeply about” are “still dying” amid the conflict. “So, what’s different?” Peters asked.
In response, a miffed Hegseth called Peters’ “characterization of this incredible effort as a failure is reckless” and said it “smears the sacrifice of the troops” who are ensuring “Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.”
Peters responded by clarifying that he thought our service members were “amazing,” and if he was characterizing any kind of “failure,” it wasn’t about them.
“I will tell you how I use the word ‘failure,’” Peters said. “I use the word ‘failure’ to their leaders. You, sir, are the failure! Not the men and women that are on that front line.”
Peters added, “If there’s a lack of winning strategy, [if] they’re in harm’s way, their leaders have failed them — and that’s what’s happening. We have political leadership: you. You don’t have a strategy! You don’t have a long-term plan to actually win this war! Win the war! …When will you show leadership?”
And this is when Hegseth completely flipped out. To see his reaction, check out the video below.
Ossoff demolishes Hegseth -- then Hegseth has an epic crashout
Sen. Jon Ossoff used Hegseth's premature declarations of victory against him during his Senate testimony, repeatedly reading back statements Hegseth made in March and April about Iran's military being "destroyed"… pic.twitter.com/KIFv6TW6Ir
@atrupar / Via x.com
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
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