Rand Paul questions Hegseth's credibility regarding boat strike incident

On Tuesday, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) sharply criticized Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth regarding his defense of a second military strike on survivors of an initial attack on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel in September. Hegseth had previously dismissed reports of the strike as fake news.

Speaking to reporters at the Capitol, the libertarian senator accused Hegseth of either deliberately misleading the public or being unaware of the strike. Secretary Hegseth claimed he had no knowledge and said it didnt occur. He called it fake news. Yet the next day, official statements confirmed it did happen, Paul said. So either he lied to us, or he was unaware of the event.

Paul later clarified to CNN that his comments referred to Hegseths social media response on Friday, which criticized The Washington Post for reporting fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory information, without specifically denying any details.

President Trump, on Sunday, interpreted Hegseths remarks as a denial, stating, Pete said that didnt happen, and He didnt even know what people were talking about.

Paul expressed skepticism about Hegseths honesty, questioning whether the Defense Secretary could have been unaware of a second strike. As a nation, are we going to accept being misled? Are we going to allow people to be killed under such circumstances? he asked. This is outrageous and should be universally condemned.

The Pentagon referred inquiries to Hegseths Friday statement. In recent days, Hegseth has distanced himself from the decision to conduct the second strike during the September 2 operation in the Caribbean, which targeted a drug boat carrying 11 individuals. Reports indicate that the initial strike left two survivors clinging to the damaged vessel, prompting a follow-up strike ordered by Adm. Frank Bradley to fulfill Hegseths directive to kill everybody on board.

Hegseth defended Adm. Bradley, the Navy admiral in command of U.S. Special Operations Command, but said he was not present when the second strike occurred and only learned about it a few hours later. I observed the first strike live, but we have many tasks at the Department of Defense, so I moved on to the next meeting. Adm. Bradley made the right call to neutralize the threat, Hegseth told reporters during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. He sank the boat and eliminated the threat, and we support his decision.

Author: Sophia Brooks