Hegseth Cites Falsehood to Defend His Firing of Senior Officers

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: New York Times

Hegseth Cites Falsehood to Defend His Firing of Senior Officers

The defense secretary said at a House hearing that President Barack Obama had fired 197 generals, a figure that the Pentagon previously acknowledged was false.


Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s actions to fire senior military leaders are without precedent in recent decades and have come with little explanation. Kenny Holston/The New York Times

By Greg Jaffe
Reporting from Washington
April 29, 2026

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday defended his decisions to fire or sideline nearly 30 generals and admirals over the past year with little explanation by falsely comparing his record to that of President Barack Obama.

“I would also note that under Barack Obama, 197 general officers were removed,” Mr. Hegseth said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. “So this is not something specific to this administration.”

The number Mr. Hegseth gave has no basis in fact. It originated with an unsigned 2018 editorial in Investor’s Business Daily, which cites the right-wing news site “Breitbart.com’s Facebook page” as its source.

Mr. Hegseth’s actions to fire senior military leaders are without precedent in recent decades and have come with little explanation. On Wednesday, lawmakers pressed him to justify his decisions, including his move this month to remove Gen. Randy A. George, the Army chief of staff.

{snip}

Greg Jaffe covers the Pentagon and the U.S. military for The Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/by/greg-jaffe

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/us/politics/pete-hegseth-falsehood-firings.html

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Kevin M. Kruse
‪@kevinmkruse.bsky.social‬

Drunky McFash got the facts wrong? What?!

‪Max Boot‬
‪@maxboot.bsky.social‬
· 8h

“I would also note that under Barack Obama, 197 general officers were removed,” Mr. Hegseth said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. “So this is not something specific to this administration.”

The number Mr. Hegseth gave has no basis in fact.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/us/politics/pete-hegseth-falsehood-firings.html

Hegseth Cites Falsehood to Defend His Firing of Senior Officers
www.nytimes.com
8:47 PM · Apr 29, 2026
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Drunky McFash got the facts wrong? What?!

— Kevin M. Kruse (@kevinmkruse.bsky.social) 2026-04-30T00:47:43.767Z

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Max Boot
‪@maxboot.bsky.social‬

“I would also note that under Barack Obama, 197 general officers were removed,” Mr. Hegseth said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. “So this is not something specific to this administration.”

The number Mr. Hegseth gave has no basis in fact.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/us/politics/pete-hegseth-falsehood-firings.html

Hegseth Cites Falsehood to Defend His Firing of Senior Officers
www.nytimes.com
8:47 PM · Apr 29, 2026
******

“I would also note that under Barack Obama, 197 general officers were removed,” Mr. Hegseth said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. “So this is not something specific to this administration.”

The number Mr. Hegseth gave has no basis in fact.
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

— Max Boot (@maxboot.bsky.social) 2026-04-30T00:47:10.770Z

[Skittles]

1. crazy

THIS stupid fucking asshole should not even be in charge of a fucking Dairy Queen.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Gift link

NER430
‪@ner430.bsky.social‬

Gift link
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/us/politics/pete-hegseth-falsehood-firings.html?unlocked_article_code=1.e1A.x0Qu.WXuwd7H8Ybvk&smid=url-share

Hegseth Cites Falsehood to Defend His Firing of Senior Officers
www.nytimes.com
11:31 PM · Apr 29, 2026

Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

— NER430 (@ner430.bsky.social) 2026-04-30T03:31:48.388Z

[TheRickles]

7. Thanks, but you still have to sign up for an NYT account for free access here.

I'll pass, but would someone please read it to see how many generals did Obama actually fire?

[FormerOstrich]

10. I have the same question....

Please post if you are able to learn the actual number. As another poster surmised it may well be zero. I am curious the actual count.

Maybe the more relevant number is how many unqualified Hedge groupies will need to be removed when we MASA (Make America Sane Again).

[BeneteauBum]

19. What ever congress person who was questioning

should have all pertinent data in hand. When the SOW utters these lies, he should be countered with ‘You lie before your God!’.

Peace ☮️

[KS Toronado]

3. How many Generals did Barack Obama fire?

Betting 0 is the number or close to it.

[Midnight Writer]

4. Hegseth knows it is a lie. He got his soundbite which will play over and over on RW media.

The faithful will eat it up, just like all the other lies.

[PatSeg]

6. Exactly

Just throw that mistruth out there and it will get repeated and accepted by much of the base.

[Biophilic]

5. Like a bunch of elementary school kids.

They did it first so it’s ok for them to do it, without ever an explanation. Because there isn’t a reasonable explanation. Bunch of idiots.

[orangecrush]

8. Hey NYT

Is a "falsehood" a chickenshit way of saying lie?

[Multichromatic]

9. Can we put Hegseth in prison for War Crimes yet?

[mackdaddy]

11. So a Sec of 'WAR' who would site a made up bible verse from a movie would site made up stats?

I am shocked.

Well not that shocked.

[Baitball Blogger]

12. Did anyone correct him in real time?

[TheRickles]

13. FWIW, Google AI says the claim is false. They don't give an exact number, but mention some high-profile cases:

McChrystal, Petraeus, Mattis and Flynn, for starters. So it was yet another lie by Hegseth.

[purr-rat beauty]

14. He should be First in line..

For what the DOJ wants to reinstate

worthless, destructive, ignorant, deceitful, arrogant, traitorous POS

[Mysterian]

15. Democrats get a chance to call this filthy traitor on his lie today, right?

Right?

[republianmushroom]

16. Whiskey Pete has a hard time understanding the

difference between retiring and firing.

[Adeptus2272]

17. Corrected for accuracy...

[SergeStorms]

18. Well, if you can't trust Breitbart....

as a factual source, who can you trust?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

20. MaddowBlog-In sworn testimony, Hegseth pushed false claim about troops deployed to voting precincts

The secretary didn’t just make a bogus claim about the Obama era, he also twice asserted very specific nonsense about the Biden era.

Pressed on whether he’d deploy troops to local voting precincts, Hegseth deflected and pushed a false claim — while under oath — about the Biden era.

A week later, maybe he could give us a straight answer about the underlying question?
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-05-05T14:19:40.302Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/in-sworn-testimony-hegseth-pushed-false-claim-about-troops-deployed-to-voting-precincts

The defense secretary was also asked whether he would be willing to deploy U.S. troops to local voting precincts ahead of this year’s midterm elections. Instead of answering the question directly, Hegseth again looked backward, in keeping with his borderline-creepy fixation on Joe Biden.

“I will note that in 2024, troops were — that was Joe Biden, by the way, Joe Biden — were deployed to polling locations in 15 states,” Hegseth said in sworn testimony to the House Armed Services Committee. For good measure, he repeated, “2024 — Joe Biden — troops deployed to polling locations in 15 states. Explain that one to me.”

A day later, the secretary made the same claim in nearly identical wording during sworn testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Readers can probably guess where this is headed. CNN reported:

All of the National Guard activations connected to the 2024 election were ordered by state governors, not by Biden. And all 12 of the states that responded to CNN’s requests for information said that none of their troops were deployed to polling locations.

Rather, the states said their Guard personnel worked behind the scenes at other locations — helping with election cybersecurity or serving as internal liaisons — or that their state Guard was not actually activated for the election after all.

Put another way, Hegseth didn’t merely push a false claim about the Obama era, he also twice pushed a very specific false claim about the Biden era about which he got literally every detail wrong.

I will leave it to legal experts to assess whether the secretary crossed any lines by saying untrue things to Congress while under oath, but at this point, there are two questions the secretary and the Pentagon really ought to answer: 1) How and why did Hegseth prepare bogus talking points for sworn congressional testimony; and 2) Can Hegseth maybe now answer truthfully and specifically about his possible plans for the 2026 midterm elections?

[republianmushroom]

21. This is not the first time he has used falsehoods

to try and cover his ass.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

22. Hegseth lied because trump wants to send troops to polling locations

Link to tweet