Secretary Hegseth BLASTS Liberal Press for Negative Headlines Siding with Iran

Curtis Houck
March 13th, 2026 5:02 PM

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Along with giving the public an update on Operation Epic Fury and recognizing the lives lost Thursday night in a mid-air refueling accident over Iraq, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth demolished the liberal media Friday morning over its purposefully apocalyptic coverage of the Iran war, painting a grim picture of the Iranian regime wreaking havoc on Israel and the United States instead of framing the war as a desperate, genocidal regime on the run.

The elite media were unsurprisingly taken aback by this and screeched with outrage over Hegseth using his First Amendment rights to criticize the press instead of kissing their feet for, in some cases, giving the Iranian mullahs a greater benefit of the doubt than the U.S.

Hegseth began by doubling down on the reality that “the United States is decimating the radical Iranian regime’s military in a way the world has never seen before” with “over 15,000 enemy targets...struck,” causing Iranian “missile volume” to be “down 90 percent,” and “one-way attack drones...down 95 percent.”

After acknowledging the regime has become “desperate” and “hiding...underground, cowering” with the new Supreme Leader “wounded and likely disfigured,” he pivoted to the press who “just can’t stop” attacking the administration. So, he declared, he’s “make a few suggestions” of how to write chyrons without simping for Iran.

“People look up at the TV and they see banners. They see headlines. I used to be in that business, and I know that everything is written intentionally,” he said.

His two suggestions concerned this narrative the U.S. and Israel were causing the war to widen instead of Iran pulling in more countries by attacking them:

For example, a banner or a headline “Mideast War Intensifies,” splashing on the screen the last couple of days, alongside visuals of civilian or energy targets that Iran has hit because that’s what they do. What should the banner read instead? How about “Iran Increasingly Desperate” because they are? They know it, and so do you, if it can be admitted.

Hegseth wasn’t going to let CNN off the hook for their supposed blockbuster story on Friday morning (which has since been corrected after roundly being condemned, fact-checked, and mocked):

Or more fake news from CNN: “Reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war’s impact on the Strait of Hormuz.” Patently ridiculous, of course. For decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is always what they do hold the Strait hostage. CNN doesn’t think we thought of that. It’s a fundamentally unserious report. The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.

There was one more narrative for Hegseth to knock down, which was this notion that the “war” is “widening” when the way the press could instead be describing the war as “Iran shrinking, going underground” because “Iran’s leaders are hiding in bunkers and moving into civilian areas”

Hegseth later concluded his opening remarks by making another appeal to the Lord Almighty for His favor and mercy on those in harm’s way:

One is free to say what they want about the secretary, but as our friend and 2025 MRC Bulldog Award winner Scott Jennings has pointed out, Hegseth has been present (and we would add substantive) unlike his predecessor, who was literally AWOL.

During the Q&A portion, Hegseth took a question from our friend and 2023 MRC Bulldog Award winner — Daily Wire White House correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan — about another piece of fake news in the liberal media.

This time, it concerned ABC News’s claim this week that the FBI is concerned Iran will fly drones over the Pacific to conduct terror attacks in California.

Olohan asked: “ABC News has updated its story from yesterday, clarifying that the FBI report on Iran possibly striking California was unverified. I just wanted to ask you, what impact did that original reporting have on the public? And does Iran even have the ability to conduct such a strike?”

Hegseth didn’t blink: “That reporting on California obviously had no impact on us. Also, we’re used to bad reporting. We’re used to ill-informed reporting. And so, it doesn’t change how we operate, but we engage with it to prove that it’s not true, as CENTCOM has done so well.”

He added that, more broadly, he “look[s]  at the reports on a daily basis of threat[s]” and “[m]y partners across government are all over looking for indications and warnings, keeping the American people safe.”

To see the relevant transcript from the March 13 Pentagon briefing, click here.

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