{"id":80716,"date":"2026-03-05T21:20:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T21:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2026\/03\/05\/democrats-slam-hegseth-for-comments-on-first-us-deaths-in-iran-war\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:31:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:31:25","slug":"democrats-slam-hegseth-for-comments-on-first-us-deaths-in-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2026\/03\/05\/democrats-slam-hegseth-for-comments-on-first-us-deaths-in-iran-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats slam Hegseth for comments on first US deaths in Iran war"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democrats are condemning Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after he derided media coverage of the six American service members killed in the war with Iran, accusing the press of focusing on the fallen soldiers to make President Donald Trump \u201clook bad.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is what the fake news misses,\u201d Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing Wednesday, in which he also avowed that the United States was \u201cwinning decisively\u201d in its battle against the Islamic Republic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut when a few drones get through, or tragic things happen, it\u2019s front-page news,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cI get it \u2013 the press only wants to make the president look bad. But try for once to report the reality.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2026\/03\/05\/pentagon-names-5th-soldier-killed-by-iran-drone-strike-6th-is-believed-to-be-idd\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2026\/03\/05\/pentagon-names-5th-soldier-killed-by-iran-drone-strike-6th-is-believed-to-be-idd\/\">six fallen soldiers<\/a> were the first American casualties in the new war. The fatalities came one day after the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2026\/03\/05\/pentagon-names-5th-soldier-killed-by-iran-drone-strike-6th-is-believed-to-be-idd\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-03-04-at-9.10.00-PM.png.png?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Pentagon names 5th soldier killed by Iran drone strike, 6th is \u2018believed to be\u2019 ID\u2019d<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Maj. Jeffrey R. O\u2019Brien, 45, died March 1, the Pentagon said. CWO3 Robert M. Marzan, 54, \u201cis believed to be the individual who perished at the scene.\u201d<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement to Military Times, Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., a 25-year Army veteran, called Hegseth\u2019s remarks \u201cdisgusting and despicable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSix brave Americans lost their lives in uniform. Their sacrifice deserves honor,\u201d Vindman said. \u201cInstead, the Secretary of Defense is worried about how their deaths make the president look. That is a grievous insult to every service member who has worn the uniform. As a 25-year Army veteran who served in Iraq, I am appalled.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who lost both legs while serving as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot in the Iraq War, told Military Times, \u201cOur men and women in uniform will always show up and 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 it either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a retired Navy Captain, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenMarkKelly\/status\/2029227403927535914?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenMarkKelly\/status\/2029227403927535914?s=20\">wrote in a post on X<\/a>, \u201cThere is nothing more sacred than the lives of our service members. They deserve a president and a Secretary of Defense who respect their service and sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The service members were killed when an Iranian drone struck a makeshift operations center in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait. The drone reportedly slipped past American defenses without triggering any alerts and exploded at a military base that appeared unusually exposed and vulnerable \u2013 raising questions about the security of U.S. forces across the Middle East. The incident is under investigation, the Army said in a statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pentagon identified the slain soldiers as Maj. Jeffrey O\u2019Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; and Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California, is \u201cbelieved to be\u201d the sixth individual to die at the scene, according <a href=\"https:\/\/www.war.gov\/News\/Releases\/Release\/Article\/4421433\/dow-identifies-an-army-believed-to-be-casualty\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.war.gov\/News\/Releases\/Release\/Article\/4421433\/dow-identifies-an-army-believed-to-be-casualty\/\">to the Pentagon<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump expressed condolences for the fallen service members Sunday, while acknowledging the American death toll was likely to rise amid the ongoing conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs one nation, we grieve for the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives,\u201d Trump said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/116155951478473608\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/116155951478473608\">video shared on Truth Social<\/a>. \u201cSadly, there will likely be more, before it ends. That\u2019s the way it is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The White House said the president will attend the dignified transfer of the troops\u2019 remains when they arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hegseth accused the press of focusing on the fallen soldiers to make the president \u201clook bad.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":110769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":62,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,12,26,62,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3415],"class_list":["post-80716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"4NFH7LUJ6BFV7IEIK4QCBA4O34","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2026\/03\/05\/democrats-slam-hegseth-for-comments-on-first-us-deaths-in-iran-war\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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