Democratic Rep. Bashes Hegseth For Blaming Admiral: ‘No Respect’ For Military | EUROtoday

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) accused the Trump administration of “throwing” Navy Adm. Frank Bradley “under the bus” when addressing the U.S. army’s September “double tap” airstrike on survivors hanging on the stays of a suspected Venezuelan drug boat within the Caribbean.

“That’s exactly what’s going on,” the Marine Corps veteran reiterated to CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Monday. “This administration has no respect for our uniformed services. We’ve known that from the very beginning, and that’s exactly what they’re showing right now.”

Moulton’s remarks got here after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed Monday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wasn’t conscious of the second strike. She as a substitute shifted the eye to Bradley, who Leavitt mentioned “worked well within his authority” to complete off the boat, which was already hit with an earlier airstrike.

Leavitt’s account clashed with The Washington Post report that mentioned Bradley relayed Hegseth’s alleged “kill everybody” order for a second strike.

Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump mentioned he wouldn’t have wished a second strike and that he believed Hegseth didn’t say these phrases. The White House didn’t instantly reply to HuffPost’s requests for remark.

Hegseth doubled down Monday night time, suggesting in an X put up that the admiral had been the one who selected the second strike.

“I stand by him and the combat decisions he has made — on the September 2 mission and all others since,” Hegseth wrote, including that Bradley has “my 100% support.”

Hegseth informed reporters Tuesday on the White House that he didn’t “stick around” to see the second strike.

Elsewhere within the interview, Moulton mentioned that Hegseth “never takes accountability for his own actions.”

“People need to be held accountable to the law, and that applies to the Secretary of Defense, it [also] applies to the commander-in-chief,” he added.

Watch Moulton’s look on CNN under.