White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed the “entire Pentagon is working” to take down Defense Secretary and former Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Pete Hegseth.
Leavitt’s comment comes after John Ullyot, the Pentagon’s former top spokesperson who stepped down last week, criticized Hegseth in a POLITICO Magazine op-ed alleging “total chaos” has broken out on his watch. The New York Times also reported on Sunday about a second signal group chat where Hegseth discussed military strikes with members of his family.
“This is what happens when the entire Pentagon is working against you and working against the monumental change that you are trying to implement,” Leavitt said in a Fox & Friends interview on Monday. “Secretary Hegseth was nominated for this position because he is standing up for the war fighter — the men and women in uniform who are putting their lives on the line to protect our country and our homeland.”
Leavitt claims there are officials at the Pentagon who don’t like these changes “so they are leaking and they are lying to the mainstream media. They are lying about the Secretary of Defense”
Even though Hegseth still has job after being accused of accused of openly discussing sensitive information about planned military strikes in an unsecured Signal chat, twice, Leavitt insists that the Trump administration take leaks of sensitive information seriously and that the president still supports Hegseth.
“The administration and the president have taken a very strong stance against anyone who leaks especially sensitive and classified information that can put our troops and our war fighters at risk,” Leavitt said, adding “the president stands strongly behind Secretary Hegseth, who is doing a phenomenal job leading the Pentagon.”
