White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt got into a heated exchange with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins over the media’s coverage of the soldiers killed during the conflict with Iran.
At the time of writing, the U.S. has confirmed the deaths of six soldiers during Operation Epic Fury. The attack, a joint operation with Israel, has killed 49 members of Iran’s leadership — including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested that the media was extensively covering the deaths of the U.S. soldiers in an effort to “make the president look bad.”
During the White House briefing hours later, Leavitt revealed that President Donald Trump would be attending the dignified transfer of those soldiers. Collins later referenced that dignified transfer before asking if it’s “the position of this administration that the press should not prominently cover the deaths of US service members.”
Leavitt responded:
No, it’s the position of this administration that the press in this room and the press across the country should accurately report on the success of Operation Epic Fury and the damage it is doing to the rogue. The Iranian regime that has threatened the lives of every single American in this room. If the Iranian regime had their choice, they would kill every single person in this room. And so we can all be very grateful that we have an administration and that we have men and women in our armed forces who are willing to sacrifice their own lives for the rest of us in this room and for every American across the country and for every troop that is based in the Middle East.
Collins pressed further, noting the fact that Hegseth complained about the deaths being “front page news.” When Leavitt attempted to dispute the point, Collins read the quote verbatim. That sparked a tense back-and-forth between the two:
LEAVITT: That’s not what the Secretary said, Kaitlan, and that’s not what the Secretary meant, and you know it! You know you are being disingenuous! There is not– we’ve never had a Secretary of Defense who cares more–
COLLINS: He said, “When a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it’s front page news. I get it. The press only wants to make the president look bad.”
LEAVITT: Yes, the press does–
COLLINS: As you know, we cover the deaths of U.S. service members under every president.
LEAVITT: The press does only want to make the president look bad. That’s a fact. Listen to me, especially you and especially CNN. And the Secretary of Defense cares deeply about our warfighters and our men and women in uniform. He travels all across this country to meet with them, to connect with them, and your network has hardly ever probably reported on that. You also had the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Chairman Kaine, who’s a brave patriot standing alongside the Secretary at the Pentagon this morning, again expressing his condolences to these families. And I just told you that the President of the United States will be attending their dignified transfer, so please, so please–
COLLINS: But we’re going to cover that dignified transfer. That’s not making the president look bad. That’s showcasing that.
LEAVITT: We expect you to cover that as you should. We expect you to cover that as you should, Kaitlan, but you and your network know that you take every single thing this administration says and tries to use it to make the president look bad. That is an objectable fact.
COLLINS: I don’t think covering troop deaths is trying to make the president look bad.
LEAVITT: If you’re trying to argue right now that CNN’s overwhelming coverage is not negative of President Donald Trump, I think the American people would tend to agree, and your ratings would tend to disagree with that, as well.
Watch above via CNN
The post WATCH: Karoline Leavitt LOSES IT on CNN’s Kaitlan Collins in Fiery Briefing Clash Over Dead Soldiers first appeared on Mediaite.