Last week, the Pentagon was still conducting the investigation that led to Wednesday’s report that a U.S. missile likely killed more than 170 people at a school near an Iranian military base — and the White House was publishing to social media video montages that spliced snippets from video games and Hollywood action movies with real wartime footage out of Iran. Those social media posts were beneath the dignity of the White House, and they were released a day before the dignified transfer of American soldiers killed in the ongoing war provided an image of how deadly serious war is.
White House officials reportedly believe the Trump administration is losing the communications war with Americans. That concern may explain why Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has started conducting news conferences after assiduously avoiding them. But the former Fox News host’s briefings have amounted to Fox News “performances,” replete with braggadocio and empty phrases like “we’re playing for keeps” and “death and destruction from the sky all day.” If he believes such vacuous presentations have inspired Americans, then he is sorely mistaken. Polls have found that most Americans are opposed to the United States’ war with Iran.
When asked about Rep. Andy Ogles’ bigoted anti-Muslim outburst, House Speaker Mike Johnson did what he’s done many times in the past: nothing. Read more.
