Seems that Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth actually doesn’t prefer it when folks level out that he’s afraid of answering journalists’ robust questions. In reality, it might value you your job.
Gabrielle Cuccia, a reporter from One America Information Community, advised The Impartial in a report printed Monday that she was fired after making a put up on Substack about how Hegseth hasn’t held a press briefing since he took his place in January.
Cuccia is a supporter of President Donald Trump’s and has described herself as “MAGA lady,” however clearly that wasn’t sufficient to maintain her round on the pro-Trump OAN.
In her put up, Cuccia known as out media protection that was essential of the Signalgate scandal, when a reporter was added to a Sign group chat the place essential safety details about navy operations was shared. However she additionally took the Pentagon to process for its makes an attempt to form protection of the Protection Division—and notably Hegseth’s actions as chief.
“Why has the Division prioritized limiting press entry, whereas the Secretary of Protection himself has but to carry a briefing within the press room throughout his first 100 days?” Cuccia wrote.
That was apparently a bridge too far for OAN, which declined to touch upon the matter when requested by The Impartial, claiming it doesn’t “touch upon worker associated points.”
“The timing got here simply days after I printed a private Substack article elevating authentic issues about new restrictions positioned on journalists contained in the Pentagon—an article my employer later confirmed had been ‘placed on their radar,’” Cuccia advised The Impartial.
The Pentagon has reportedly restricted press entry following Signalgate, and now reporters are solely allowed to talk to division officers with a minder from the Pentagon’s public affairs division current.
In her put up, Cuccia additionally criticized the division for commonly telling reporters that Hegseth didn’t have any public occasions on his calendar for the day, “solely to seek out hours later he was at a public occasion by way of X.”
OAN is a cesspool of right-wing propaganda and conspiracy theories, and it’s been a dependable supply of pro-Trump spin since its founding.
At present, presidential adviser and conspiracy theorist Kari Lake is positioning OAN to usurp Voice of America, changing the government-funded broadcaster with an outlet that prioritizes Trump over the reality.
The community’s luck comes only a few years after it was pressured to pay out a settlement to voting know-how firm Smartmatic, which OAN falsely accused of warping 2020 election ends in favor of President Joe Biden.
Hegseth is obsessive about presenting a constructive picture of himself, and he even lately arrange a Pentagon make-up studio for media appearances—that are normally on Fox Information, the place Hegseth used to push right-wing bigotry and misinformation and brag about not washing his fingers for years.
However in his new function on the Pentagon, Hegseth and his group have made information for all of the unsuitable causes. After they aren’t leaking navy info, they’re attacking transgender rights, purging Black historical past, and bragging about ending “woke” applications that truly started underneath Trump—bungling work that has led to congressional Republicans trying ridiculous whereas protecting for him.
In firing Cuccia, OAN has made it clear that no one—not even “MAGA lady”—is allowed to level out flaws throughout the Trump administration.
