Duckworth Calls Out Hegseth for Caring More About Good Coverage of Trump Than Our Troops’ Lives

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On CNN today, combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) called out Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth after he criticized the media for making “the President look bad” by focusing coverage on the six American servicemembers who have been killed in Trump’s needless war of choice. Duckworth fired back against Hegseth that it is incumbent upon those in the halls of power to honor our troops’ service, professionalism and sacrifice by making sure we undergo proper planning and provide them with a defined mission, which the Trump Administration has still failed to do. Video of the interview can be found on the Senator’s YouTube.

Key Quotes:

1. “Our troops are America’s best. I know them personally. They are my friends, my buddies… These are people who give themselves, time and again. When our nation calls, they answer the call. That is why it is beholden upon us who are in the halls of power to make sure that we never ask our troops to sacrifice for something that we have not accurately planned for… We need to make sure that we’re not going to enter them into endless wars where we continue to sacrifice their lives because we have not done our job of proper planning or figured out what we’re going to do for our next steps.”

1. “As far as Hegseth’s obsession with making good coverage of President Trump, well, you know what? Not only does this war of choice go against what the American people want, Trump’s military adventurism is undermining our military readiness. In fact, he’s drawing down our resources and distracting us from some of our biggest adversaries. The PRC, for example. We’re continuing to strain our military with wars of choice all over the world and this is going to make our adversaries doubt whether or not we’re going to have the capacity to truly withstand an attack from an adversary like the PRC if it happens.”

1. “Our men and women in uniform will always show up. They will execute to the highest levels of professionalism and capabilities. Unfortunately, their Commander-in-Chief is not capable of doing that. And their Secretary of Defense is not capable of doing that. I want to make sure that I do my job here in the Senate to make the White House define what that mission is and how do we end the mission in a successful way and how do we get our troops home.”

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