Bill Maher took aim at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, slamming him as the “worst thing to hit the Pentagon” since the tragic events of September 11.
During the “New Rule” portion of his HBO show on Friday evening, Maher launched into his criticism of Hegseth.
“New Rule: Pete Hegsteth’s parents have to take away his phone. He can have it back when he’s shown us he’s grown up enough to use it responsibly,” Maher quipped during his monologue.
He continued with a sharp jab, saying, “I’m not saying Pete makes a terrible defense secretary, but he’s the worst thing to hit the Pentagon since Flight 77.”
Maher’s jokes centered around an incident involving National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who mistakenly included The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg in a Signal group chat where top officials in the Trump administration were discussing sensitive operations targeting Yemen. A subsequent story alleged that Hegseth had set up another Signal group, this time adding his wife and brother to conversations involving sensitive military topics.
Despite the controversy, the Trump administration defended Hegseth, according to the Associated Press:The White House expressed support Monday for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following media reports that he shared sensitive military details in another Signal messaging chat, this time with his wife and brother.
When asked about the incident, both the White House and Hegseth chose not to dispute whether he had shared sensitive information in the second group. Instead, they criticized the sources who leaked the story, accusing them of being disgruntled employees, and emphasized that no classified data had been compromised.
“It’s just fake news. They just bring up stories,” President Donald Trump told reporters. “I guess it sounds like disgruntled employees. You know, he was put there to get rid of a lot of bad people, and that’s what he’s doing. So you don’t always have friends when you do that,” Trump explained.
In an interview with Fox News, Hegseth brushed off the accusations, framing them as politically motivated attacks by those who oppose President Trump’s policies.
“I’m here because President Trump asked me to bring warfighting back to the Pentagon every single day. That is our focus. And if people don’t like it, they can come after me. No worries. I’m standing right here. The warfighters are behind us. Our enemies know they’re on notice. Our allies know we’re behind them. And that, in this dangerous world for the American people, is what it’s all about,” Hegseth said.
{Matzav.com}