Joe Scarborough Debunks Hegseth's 'Fog of War' Boat Strike Claim with Fox Clip from 'Morning After': 'You Were Fully Aware!'

Joe Scarborough, host of Morning Joe, strongly criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for attributing a September 2 attack on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel to the fog of war, directly confronting him with his own words from the day after the incident.

Hegseths comments came during a Tuesday cabinet meeting, where NBC News senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez questioned both him and President Trump about the strike, which reportedly killed two survivors from the initial assault. The follow-up attack has sparked intense political debate, with critics raising concerns over possible war crimes and calling for details on Hegseths knowledge and authorization of the strikes.

During the meeting, Hegseth defended the actions: I did not personally see survivors, but I stand because the thing was on fire. It was exploded and fire and smoke. You cant see anything. You got digital. This is called the fog of war. This is what you and the press dont understand, he said.

On Morning Joe the following day, Scarborough rejected Hegseths defense, addressing him directly: You werent talking about the fog of war the morning after this happened. You were in complete command. You knew exactly who was on that boat, exactly when it was targeted. You knew everything about that day.

Scarborough then played a September 3 clip from Fox & Friends, where Hegseth acknowledged that he watched it live and confirmed his team knew exactly who was on that boat and that they were linked to a narco-terrorist group.

After showing the clip, Scarborough emphasized the contradiction: Since he knew exactly what was happening, he also knew the boat was hit four timestwice to target the crew and twice to sink it. Every day, he makes statements that conflict with what he said the day before.

Co-host Mika Brzezinski mentioned ongoing congressional investigations, prompting Scarborough to continue: The second, third, and fourth strikeshe told Fox & Friends about all of it. You were there. You admitted you knew everything about the four strikes. You saw it yourself.

Scarborough concluded, mocking Hegseth: Now you say, fog of war? No. You informed the nation the morning after. You were there. You knew exactly what happened.

Author: Jackson Miller