It's incredible how the mainstream media can investigate something when they have an axe to grind or an agenda to push. Earlier, we told you NBC News dug up some European "experts" who said the U.S. and Israel aren't winning in Iran, despite obliterating their leadership, navy, air force, and missile and drone supplies.
NBC News also dug into comments made by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth about what the families of fallen soldiers told him about Operation Epic Fury.
EXCLUSIVE - Hegseth said today that “family after family” of the service members killed in the Iran war told him: “Finish this. Honor their sacrifice. Do not waver. Do not stop until the job is done.”
— Amanda Terkel (@aterkel) March 19, 2026
But a father who met with Hegseth tells @Petereporter he never said that
This is such a bunch of semantic bull, even for NBC News.
EXCLUSIVE: Father of service member killed in Iran war said he did not tell Pete Hegseth to "finish" the job. https://t.co/4QTTfz5SGM
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 20, 2026
Here's more (emphasis added):
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met privately Wednesday with the families of six service members who died in the Iran war and, in a press briefing the next morning, said the message he got was consistent and supportive.
“What I heard through tears, through hugs, through strength and through unbreakable resolve was the same from family after family. They said, ‘Finish this. Honor their sacrifice. Do not waver. Do not stop until the job is done,’” Hegseth said.
One of the people he met at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware was Charles Simmons. His 28-year-old son, Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, was among the six crew members killed when their refueling plane crashed in Iraq last week.
Simmons recalled his exchange differently.
“I can’t speak for the other families. When he spoke to me, that was not something we talked about,” he told NBC News in an interview Thursday.
Simmons said he spoke separately to Hegseth and President Donald Trump at Dover and was grateful for the warmth that both men showed him.
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And here's the kicker buried at the end of the article:
Simmons recalled something his son had told him before volunteering for the mission that ended his life.
“He said, ‘Dad, I can’t give you any details, but if civilians knew what we knew, a lot of the criticism [of the war] would cease,” he said.
Secretary Hegseth never said "all families," he said, "family after family." But NBC News found the one guy who met with Secretary Hegseth separately and decided to use that as proof that Hegseth is lying about what the other families said. NBC News could have asked the other families, too, but we noticed they didn't.
We do not despise the media enough.
Are you people incapable of telling the truth or is that just your business model? https://t.co/Nuz0QeKRPi
— Jim Verdi (@jjverdi) March 20, 2026
They can't help themselves.
Did he name this family specifically? Did Pete Hegseth claim every single family? Imagine parading this around as “Exclusive”. This is why your ratings are trash. pic.twitter.com/uqZLHLSb7G
— Mass Hypnosis (@LongSquat) March 20, 2026
They deserve to have trash ratings.
The media is beyond despicable. The full quote of this father paints a very different picture from your post. You can't hate the media enough.https://t.co/sU922GqWgN
— LadyL (@LadyL46635798) March 20, 2026
NBC News knows that few people will read beyond the first paragraph, and even fewer will read the headline. And if you check out some of the quotes of that post, they got exactly the sort of reaction they wanted: the Leftists accusing Secretary Hegseth of lying.
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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