If You're Explaining, You're Losing: Pete Hegseth Edition

The Lincoln Project

This week, Rick's Elephant In The Room focuses on Trump, General Ratliff, and Pete Hegseth selling the American people a bill of goods about the US's attacks on Iran last weekend. It's a general rule of thumb in politics -- if you're having to defend your position, you're losing. So, when Trump blindly and prematurely tweeted and spoke to the media about his "total obliteration" of the nuclear sites in Iran long before our armed forces had made it home and damage was assessed, he left himself open to be fact-checked and held accountable for his administration's actions. And the three "blame sponges" -- Hegseth, Vance, and Rubio -- looked on in terror as Trump made statements about his "military prowess" that would be hard to retract -- if he misspoke, one of them would surely be forced to take the fall. Furious at the reporting from various news outlets this week, shedding light on the lack of "total obliteration" in Iran and backing up those reports with aerial photos (from before and after the strikes and in the days leading up to them) Trump pushed Hegseth to the podium on Thursday morning for a press briefing where he scolded media outlets for reporting the facts about this unfolding story. The egg is on Trump's face. The reporting that came out this week highlighted the contrast between Trump's claim of "total obliteration" and photos of the three sites before and after the attacks that were taken from aerial surveillance. The worst part of the US's blunder? Highlighted in a few articles from this week, Iran's enriched uranium could fit into the size of a minivan. And, in the days leading up to the attacks, several trucks were seen coming and going from the sites. Clearly, Hegseth should stop focusing on the free press and get back to work...

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