弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿——4月16日，美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯在五角大楼的新闻简报会上发表讲话。在关于美国及以色列针对伊朗战争的谈判持续进行之际，赫格塞斯谈及了相关战况。
抨击媒体为“法利赛人”
国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯在今早的新闻发布会上对记者大发雷霆，面对一场进展不顺且不受欢迎的战争，他采取了经典的“攻击传信人”防御姿态。这并非赫格塞斯首次将负面头条和针对中东冲突的批判性报道归咎于记者的“不爱国”。但今天的长篇大论尤为引人注目，他将那种陈旧的、反射性地质疑记者忠诚度的做法与圣经引用相结合，反映出其个人的基督教民族主义立场。
“有时很难搞清楚你们到底站在哪一边，”赫格塞斯说，“这极其不爱国。”
自越南战争以来的几十年里，五角大楼本已逐渐从面对批评时的防御姿态，转向对负面消息采取更加透明和自我反思的公众回应。虽然这种转变并不总是持续稳定，尤其在诸如2000年代伊拉克战争等遭遇持续挫折的时期曾出现剧烈倒退，但总体轨迹是远离赫格塞斯今早表现出的那种膝跳反射式的、固步自封的处理方式。这种质疑记者的忠诚度，或任何质疑军方行动的行为，标志着美方在军事传播策略上的重大倒退。
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - APRIL 16: U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks during a press brief...
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - APRIL 16: U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon on April 16, 2026 in Arlington, Virginia. Hegseth addressed the war between the United States and Israel against Iran as negotiations continue toward a longer-term agreement between the countries. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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04.16.26 | 10:44 am
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Compares Press to the Pharisees
A thin-skinned and prickly Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth went off on journalists in his press conference this morning, resorting to the classic “attack the messenger” defense to a unpopular war going poorly.
It’s not the first time Hegseth has succumbed to blaming a lack of patriotism among reporters for unfavorable headlines and critical reporting on a Middle East conflict ignited by the Trump administration. But today’s screed was striking for how it mixed the old worn-out reflexive questioning of the loyalty of reporters with biblical references that reflect Hegseth’s personal Christian nationalism:
“Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what side some of you are actually on,” Hegseth said. “It’s incredibly unpatriotic.”
In the decades since the Vietnam War, the Pentagon had haltingly moved away from the defensive crouch it often took in the face of criticism toward a more transparent and self-reflective public response to bad news. It was not always consistent and the backsliding was dramatic during periods of sustained setbacks, like in Iraq during the aughts, but the general trajectory was away from the kind of knee-jerk circle-the-wagons approach that Hegseth rolled out this morning.
Questioning the loyalty of journalists — or any regime critics — harkens to earlier dark eras of America history and to authoritarian regimes worldwide. But Hegseth’s diatribe came with a strong Christian twist, as he compared journalists to the Pharisees who rejected Jesus in the Bible:
“The Pharisees, the so-called and self-appointed elites of their time, they were there to witness, to write everything down, to record, but their hearts were hardened, even though they witnessed a literal miracle, it didn’t matter,” Hegseth said.
“They were only there to explain away the goodness in pursuit of their agenda. As the passage ends, the Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel against him, how to destroy him,” he continued.
“I sat there in church and I thought, our press are just like these Pharisees, not all of you, not all of you, but the legacy Trump-hating press, your politically motivated animus for President Trump nearly completely blinds you from the brilliance of our American warriors,” he added.
Hegseth — callow, reactive