U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has intensified his criticism of the media, labeling coverage of the Iran war as \u201cunpatriotic\u201d and controversially comparing journalists to the Pharisees, a biblical Jewish group, during a Pentagon press briefing.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Thursday, Hegseth accused sections of the American press of producing \u201crelentlessly negative coverage\u201d of the ongoing conflict, despite what he described as the \u201chistoric and important success\u201d of U.S. military operations. He questioned the loyalty of some reporters, stating it was \u201chard to figure out what side some of you are actually on.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defense chief, a former Fox News host, went further by invoking religious imagery, likening parts of the media to the Pharisees \u2014 figures in the Bible often portrayed as critics of Jesus. Hegseth suggested that certain outlets, which he described as \u201clegacy Trump-hating press,\u201d were blinded by political bias against President Donald Trump and therefore unable to recognize what he called the achievements of American troops.<\/p>\n
Hegseth said the comparison was inspired by a recent church sermon, arguing that just as the Pharisees scrutinized acts to find fault, some journalists focus solely on negative aspects of military efforts. He urged reporters to \u201copen your eyes\u201d to what he framed as the courage of U.S. forces and leadership.<\/p>\n
The remarks have drawn criticism from media professionals and commentators, who argue that the comments misrepresent the role of journalism. Bill Grueskin of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism said the comments reflect a misunderstanding of reporters\u2019 duty to pursue truth and provide accurate, transparent accounts, particularly in complex war environments.<\/p>\n
Grueskin also noted the challenges journalists face covering the conflict, including restricted access at the Pentagon and limited ability to report from within Iran.<\/p>\n
Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson also criticized Hegseth, accusing him of using religion to shame journalists performing their professional duties.<\/p>\n
Hegseth\u2019s rhetoric marks a continued pattern of confrontations between the Defense Department and the press since the escalation of the Iran conflict in late February, with his comments highlighting growing tensions over war coverage and political messaging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has intensified his criticism of the media, labeling coverage of the Iran war as \u201cunpatriotic\u201d and controversially comparing journalists to the Pharisees, a biblical Jewish group, during a Pentagon press briefing. Speaking on Thursday, Hegseth accused sections of the American press of producing \u201crelentlessly negative coverage\u201d of the ongoing conflict, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":16602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[3672,20069,20065,20067,20070,20064,20061,20068,20071,20072,20062,20060,20063,20066,14683],"class_list":["post-16595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-amat","tag-bill-grueskin-columbia-journalism","tag-donald-trump-administration-news","tag-fox-news-former-host-hegseth","tag-gretchen-carlson-reaction","tag-hegseth-pharisees-comparison","tag-iran-war-coverage-us","tag-journalism-criticism-us-politics","tag-media-vs-government-tensions","tag-pentagon-media-access-issues","tag-pentagon-press-briefing-controversy","tag-pete-hegseth-media-criticism","tag-unpatriotic-media-comments","tag-us-defense-secretary-remarks","tag-us-iran-conflict-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}