"Incredibly unpatriotic" Hegseth's strange petty war against the media and mullahs

Pete Hegseth has nerves of steel: The Minister of Defense actually wants to provide information about the Middle East, but he uses the press conference to complain extensively about the media coverage and to ask God for military assistance via a "pulp fiction" prayer.

Pete Hegseth wages many wars. Against fat soldiers and bearded men. Against "wokeness" in the armed forces and against trans fighters. Against Iran - and against journalists.

The Minister of Defense addressed the "American media" directly in his press conference on 16 April. "I just can't help but notice the endless stream of garbage, the relentlessly negative coverage. You can't resist the colportation."

And this despite the fact that his squad has just celebrated "historic and important successes", complains Hegseth. "Sometimes it's hard to tell which side some of you are on," he tells the representatives of the fourth estate. "It's incredibly unpatriotic."

The behavior of the journalists is a source of concern for Mann: Even during the service, Hegseth thinks about the media. "Our press is just like the Pharisees," was his last thought in church, continues the minister's indictment. "Not all of them, but the Trump-hating legacy media."

"The American people with goodness in their hearts"

These would not even "see the record of our American warriors. The Pharisees scrutinized every good deed to find an offense, only to look for the negative," the sermon continues. Day after day, the media also earned the label "fake news", the 45-year-old grumbles.

The politician has now made it clear to everyone who the bad guys are. "But the American people, with goodness in their hearts, see past the Pharisees of the press," he continued. Perhaps Donald Trump, the Jesus - sorry: the doctor - among presidents, has made the blind see?

It would have fit the bill after Trump's latest social media scandal, but Hegseth has a different metaphor in mind. "The hardened hearts of our press are designed only to question. I would urge you to open your eyes to the good, to the historic success of our troops, to the courage of this president."

The "nuclear threat" could be eliminated in this "historic moment", enthuses Hegseth: "This incredible victory on the battlefield is before our eyes." He recalls the rescue missions for the downed US pilots: "[They were] miracles, you could say."

Hegseth's petty war with the press

There are other great things that the media don't report on, the Republican rants at the press conference. For example, the "historic recruitment figures" in the Air Force and Space Force. The targets had been reached five months earlier.

"Where are the reports on this?" the minister rages. "The reporting on the new spirit in the country? The new spirit in the ranks? The outpouring of Americans wanting to join the best military in the world? Nothing [comes about it] in the fake news. We're noticing a pattern."

Incidentally, Hegseth also has something to say to the mullahs: "You like to say publicly, Iran, that you control the Strait of Hormuz. [...] You can't control anything. Threatening to fire drones and missiles at commercial ships legally sailing through international waters is not control. That is piracy. That's terrorism."

A milquetoast calculation, because no matter what you call it: if this threat prevents said shipping from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, it is de facto a form of control. At the same time, the American is right when he emphasizes that the US Navy uses "real means" to control who is allowed to leave the Persian Gulf.

"Pulp fiction" prayer with Hegseth

Pithy words in the direction of his opponents - both those at the trigger abroad and at the keyboard at home - are commonplace from Hegseth. It is also fitting that the American once again plays the Christian prayer leader.

Hegseth quotes a modified prayer that was said when the US pilots were rescued in Iran. "They call it CSAR[Combat Search and Rescue] 25:17, which I think is supposed to reflect Ezekiel 25:17," he says and prays away.

In the video at the top, however, you can see that it is a modified quote from the 1994 cult film "Pulp Fiction", based solely on the Bible verse.

A piece of Hollywood, in other words. Presented with Christian fervor. From a man who used to be a presenter on "Fox News" and is now waging war against Iran and the media.

Times are changing.