Secretary of War Pete Hegseth attacked Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) in a Wednesday budget hearing over the lawmaker’s public remarks that the U.S. handling of the Iran war amounted to a “quagmire.” “Shame on you, calling this a quagmire, two months in,” Hegsetgh said to the Congressman. The effort, what they’ve undertaken, what they’ve succeeded, the success on the battlefield that creates strategic opportunities, the courage of a president to confront a nuclear Iran and you call it a quagmire, handing propaganda to our enemies, shame on you for that statement.” “Statements like that are reckless to our troops. Don’t say I support the troops on one hand and then a two-month mission is a quagmire. That’s a false equivalent,” Hegseth added.

SECRETARY OF WAR PETE HEGSETH: But if I may, I didn’t get a chance, I didn’t see a question in the statement from the congressman. I hope you appreciate how reckless it is. When I said reckless, feckless, and defeatist of congressional Democrats at the beginning, that came after watching you say the same thing on CNN this morning, a quagmire. My generation served in a quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan, years and years of nebulous missions and utopian nation building that led us to nothing. What we have right now, the way you stain the troops when you tell them two months in, two months in, congressman, you should know better, shame on you, calling this a quagmire, two months in. The effort, what they’ve undertaken, what they’ve succeeded, the success on the battlefield that creates strategic opportunities, the courage of a president to confront a nuclear Iran and you call it a quagmire, handing propaganda to our enemies, shame on you for that statement. Statements like that are reckless to our troops. Don’t say I support the troops on one hand and then a two-month mission is a quagmire. That’s a false equivalent. Who are you cheering for here? Who are you pulling for? Our troops are doing incredible work, they’ve done incredible things for the entirety of this mission and achieved incredible battlefield successes. You sit there and go on TV for your click bait about quagmires. It undermines the mission. Your hatred for President Trump blinds you to the truth of the success of this mission and the historic stakes that the president is addressing, which the American people support. Iran’s been at war with us for 47 years, you want to talk about a forever war? For two months this president has stared them down, he’s going to get a better deal than anyone ever has and ensure that Iran never has a nuclear weapon. I know the American people support that mission, despite your loose talk and words like quagmire.

Watch Rep. Garamendi call the war a quagmire while questioning Hegseth:
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