‘They’re all going to flip’: Karoline Leavitt calls Kaitlan Collins ‘disingenuous’, pretends Pete Hegseth didn’t say what he said
During the press briefing on Wednesday addressing US escalations in Iran, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth repeatedly mentioned Donald Trump’s name, often in unnecessary contexts. But that was not the only odd thing he did during his appearance. At a certain point in his speech, while discussing US casualties in the Iran conflict, Hegseth mentioned media coverage and claimed it was mostly negative.
What he was essentially saying was that media outlets were not properly reporting the military’s or the Trump Administration’s achievements in Iran, but instead focused on negatively portraying the war, highlighting soldiers who had lost their lives and making it front-page news. We can probably agree that it was a bit insensitive of Pete Hegseth to say that. With that in mind, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked during a Wednesday press briefing conducted by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt about Hegseth’s comments criticising media coverage of soldiers’ deaths in Iran. Leavitt refused to acknowledge that Hegseth made such a statement and repeatedly accused Collins of falsification and CNN of fabricating news to make Donald Trump look bad.
Karoline Leavitt loses temper at Kaitlan Collins over Pete Hegseth comments
During Wednesday’s press conference hosted by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, CNN’s chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins asked whether it was the stance of the Trump administration that the press should not prominently report on U.S. service members’ deaths in Iran. Leavitt responded negatively to Collins’ question, stating that the administration’s position is that “the press in this room, and press across the country should accurately report on the success of Operation Epic Fury and the damage done to the rogue Iranian regime, which has threatened the lives of every single American in this room.”
Suggesting that if the Iranian regime had its way, it would have wiped out everyone in the room, she said: “We can all be very grateful that we have an administration and men and women who are willing to sacrifice their own lives for us across the country and for every troop based in the Middle East.” Later, Collins asked Leavitt again about Hegseth’s comments regarding soldiers’ deaths being front-page news, but this time Leavitt became visibly angry and accused Collins of being “disingenuous.” She said, “That’s not what the Secretary said, Kaitlan, and that’s not what the Secretary meant, and you know it. You know you are being disingenuous.” Collins then quoted Hegseth, but Leavitt continued to defend him, criticising Collins and CNN for maligning Trump.
Pete Hegseth did, in fact, say what Karoline Leavitt claims he didn’t
When Kaitlan Collins suggested that Pete Hegseth had expressed concerns about media outlets reporting on soldiers’ deaths in Iran, Leavitt refused to admit he said that. Even after Collins provided a direct quote from Hegseth, she dismissed it and attacked Collins and CNN.
A simple Google search of Pete Hegseth’s remarks from Wednesday confirms that he did say what Collins described. Here’s exactly what he said: “This is what the fake news misses. We’ve taken control of Iran’s airspace and waterways without boots on the ground. We control their fate. 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.”
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