Seems that Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth actually doesn’t prefer it when individuals level out that he’s afraid of answering journalists’ robust questions. In truth, it may value you your job.
Gabrielle Cuccia, a reporter from One America Information Community, informed The Unbiased in a report printed Monday that she was fired after making a submit on Substack about how Hegseth hasn’t held a press briefing since he took his place in January.
Cuccia is a supporter of President Donald Trump’s and has described herself as “MAGA girl,” however clearly that wasn’t sufficient to maintain her round on the pro-Trump OAN.
In her submit, Cuccia known as out media protection that was crucial of the Signalgate scandal, when a reporter was added to a Sign group chat the place crucial safety details about army operations was shared. However she additionally took the Pentagon to activity for its makes an attempt to form protection of the Protection Division—and significantly Hegseth’s actions as chief.
“Why has the Department prioritized limiting press access, while the Secretary of Defense himself has yet to hold a briefing in the press room during his first 100 days?” Cuccia wrote.
That was apparently a bridge too far for OAN, which declined to touch upon the matter when requested by The Unbiased, claiming it doesn’t “comment on employee related issues.”
“The timing came just days after I published a personal Substack article raising legitimate concerns about new restrictions placed on journalists inside the Pentagon—an article my employer later confirmed had been ‘put on their radar,’” Cuccia informed The Unbiased.
The Pentagon has reportedly restricted press entry following Signalgate, and now reporters are solely allowed to talk to division officers with a minder from the Pentagon’s public affairs division current.
In her submit, Cuccia additionally criticized the division for repeatedly telling reporters that Hegseth didn’t have any public occasions on his calendar for the day, “only to find hours later he was at a public event via X.”
OAN is a cesspool of right-wing propaganda and conspiracy theories, and it’s been a dependable supply of pro-Trump spin since its founding.
At present, presidential adviser and conspiracy theorist Kari Lake is positioning OAN to usurp Voice of America, changing the government-funded broadcaster with an outlet that prioritizes Trump over the reality.
The community’s luck comes just some years after it was pressured to pay out a settlement to voting know-how firm Smartmatic, which OAN falsely accused of warping 2020 election ends in favor of President Joe Biden.
Hegseth is obsessive about presenting a optimistic picture of himself, and he even not too long ago arrange a Pentagon make-up studio for media appearances—that are normally on Fox Information, the place Hegseth used to push right-wing bigotry and misinformation and brag about not washing his fingers for years.
However in his new position on the Pentagon, Hegseth and his staff have made information for all of the fallacious causes. Once they aren’t leaking army data, they’re attacking transgender rights, purging Black historical past, and bragging about ending “woke” applications that truly started underneath Trump—bungling work that has led to congressional Republicans wanting ridiculous whereas masking for him.
In firing Cuccia, OAN has made it clear that no one—not even “MAGA girl”—is allowed to level out flaws inside the Trump administration.
