Pentagon says WaPo 'falsely attributed' quote to Hegseth 'that he never said' in report on September drug boat strike

Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson criticized the Washington Post on Tuesday regarding their report that claimed Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s "order was to kill everybody" in a September strike on a boat in the Caribbean that was said to be bringing narcotics to the United States. 

"It is, frankly, disgusting that the Washington Post would publish something that is so insanely false. And we've seen this from the mainstream media before, right, anonymous sources that are being quoted that probably have no idea what's going on, and the Washington Post actually went so far as to falsely attribute a quote to the Secretary of Defense, of War, excuse me, that he never said," said Wilson. 

The Washington Post report cited "two people with direct knowledge of the operation." Two people were seen on surveillance footage surviving the attack, and a second strike was ordered. Hegseth denied ordering to "kill everybody," calling it "fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting" from "the fake news."

Wilson continued, "That is preposterous that they would write that and pass that off as true journalism. Thankfully, the New York Times stepped in and corrected the record and let the American people know that what they were publishing was absolutely fake news."

The New York Times released a report disputing the Washington Post, citing five US officials, saying that Hegseth had issued a directive ahead of the September 2 attack ordering a strike that would kill people on the boat and destroy it, as well as its cargo. The officials had said that Hegseth’s order did not address what should happen if the first missile did not accomplish those goals, and the order was not issued in response to the surveillance footage showing survivors. Admiral Bradley ordered the initial strike on the vessel and several follow-up strikes. As this unfolded, Hegseth did not give additional orders, the officials said. 

Wilson added, "So the Washington Post, I think readers, readership should think twice before reading that outlet again. It is disgraceful that they call themselves journalists, and we told them as such, right? We get press queries like we do from all of you. We told them this story was completely fake news on Thanksgiving evening with a three-hour deadline, and they still published it anyway. It's disgraceful, but thankfully, the American people see through it."