The campaign to sabotage Pete Hegseth's tenure as Secretary of Defense is very real, with bad-faith actors from within and outside of the DOD appearing to engage in coordinated smear attempts designed to ramp up public pressure in hopes he'll either resign or be forced out after three months at the helm.
President Donald Trump has basically told Hegseth's critics to pound sand, responding to one reporter's question on whether he is still confident in Hegseth by noting that, "He's doing a great job...Ask the Houthis how he's doing. Ask the Houthis how much dysfunction there is." He also labeled any reports that a replacement search was underway "fake news."
But the POTUS telling detractors to take a flying leap hasn't stopped The Usual Suspects in the MSM from aiding and abetting in the ouster endeavor, with the New York Times, NPR, and, of course, The Atlantic leading the way in banging the "DOD in disarray" drum quite loudly.
On Wednesday, CBS News added to the frenzied anti-Hegseth news cycle by publishing its own hit piece on how the Pentagon Green Room had allegedly been turned into an expensive make-up studio Hegseth could use to get primped and prepped ahead of media appearances:
News: @SecDef Hegseth recently ordered modifications to the green room next to the Pentagon press briefing room to add a makeup studio that can be used to prep for TV appearances, sources told @CBSNews.
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) April 23, 2025
The price tag for the project was several thousand dollars.
The space…
The story was designed to make Hegseth look like a) he was a hypocrite on cost-cutting at a time federal departments were being reviewed by DOGE for waste and inefficiencies, and b) was petty, vain, and superficial in contrast to his stated goals for the DOD:
The price tag for the project was several thousand dollars, according to two of the sources, at a time when the administration is searching for cost-cutting measures.
[...]
Hegseth, before becoming defense secretary, was a morning show co-host on Fox News' "Fox & Friends Weekend." Since his nomination, he has vowed to emphasize improvements in the armed forces' warfighting abilities and military readiness.
The problem with the sensationalized report was that it was "fake news," according to the DOD Rapid Response team:
Does the fake news NOT have anything better to do?
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) April 23, 2025
1. No lighted mirror.
2. It didn't cost thousands.
3. The items that were added to the GREEN ROOM (not a makeup studio) came from existing inventory.
This story is TRASH! https://t.co/hOrF5VNqcg pic.twitter.com/FQzXX4QgpW
Already, CBS News is having to walk the story back:
SecDef Hegseth is doing his own makeup ahead of TV appearances, not paying for a makeup artist, a defense official told @cbsnews' @ellee_watson
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) April 23, 2025
As initially planned, the renovations to the green room makeup studio in the Pentagon were going to cost more than $40,000, sources told me, but the ideas were scaled back.
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) April 23, 2025
Further, the DOD Rapid Response Twitter/X account reminded folks about an elaborate room constructed during the Biden-Harris administration that cost far more money and which the mainstream press seemed strangely incurious about at the time:
So the desperate and worthless media wants to talk about a “green room” in the Pentagon…..🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/JgCI9cKPXQ
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) April 23, 2025
As usual, it's always (D)ifferent when a Democrat does it. Always.
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