Twenty years ago, Donald Rumsfeld was defenestrated from the Bush administration after the midterm elections. I remember well because I was working one of my first gigs in journalism and contributing to the Election Night blog at Comedy Central. The journalistic standards were just low enough that I could float the rumor I had heard through a friend who was dating a White House aide and get credit for Comedy Central being one of the first and most improbable outlets to have the news.
Pete Hegseth has to go. The war in Iran has not gone the way the president has told the American public: that it would be over in a few weeks. Multiple reports across the media say that Secretary Hegseth was not only one of the strongest proponents of the war in the admin, but also the likeliest to give “rosy” assessments of the state of the war. Trump reportedly confronted Hegseth about munitions shortages constraining his options. We have often criticized Trump for failing to make the case to the American people for this war. But Hegseth also deserves blame. His last press briefing on the war was May 9.
A man that won’t stand up in public and defend his department’s recommended policy must fall.