US defense secretary Pete Hegseth ripped Fox News reporter and his former colleague Jennifer Griffin on Thursday, saying she has “been about the worst” in the media when it comes to reporting on the American bombings of multiple Iranian nuclear sites. Addressing the press briefing organised by the Pentagon on Operation Midnight Hunter, Hegseth said Griffin was arguably the most high-profile journalist to “misrepresent what the President says” regarding the operation.The remarks came after Griffin, Fox News’ chief national security correspondent, who has been with the channel for over 25-years, questioned Hegseth about how effective the strikes had been and whether he was certain that highly enriched uranium was present at the Fordow nuclear facility during the US strike, noting that satellite images had captured trucks at the site two days earlier.“Do you have certainty that all the highly enriched uranium was inside the Fordow Mountain?” Griffin asked. “Are you certain none of that highly enriched uranium was moved?”Hegseth, a former Fox & Friends co-host, seemed visibly irritated by the question, prompting his sharp response. “Of course, we’re watching every single aspect. But, Jennifer, you’ve been about the worst. The one who misrepresents the most, intentionally, what the president says.”In response to Hegseth’s remarks, Griffin stood by her reporting on Fordow, stating she was the first to accurately detail the B-2 bombers, their midair refueling, and the overall mission, adding, “so I take issue with that.”He is not the first member of the Trump administration to attack and discredit the media on the questions over the effectiveness of Iran strikes. After a leaked initial assessment by the Pentagon’s defence intelligence agency, suggested that US strikes last week on Iran’s nuclear sites may have left core components of facilities largely intact, and that Iran’s nuclear program has essentially only been set back by months rather than “obliterated.” President Trump himself expressed frustration with media outlets like CNN and The New York Times for questioning the success of the operation, labeling them “scum” for their coverage.Other members of his administration, including Marco Rubio, Tulsi Gabbard, and John Ratclif have dismissed the report as false, with Gabbard stating that U.S. intelligence confirms the sites were “destroyed.”
