Pentagon fixates on ‘totally fake’ makeup room report amid department turmoil
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the story “totally fake,” and his top spokesperson, Sean Parnell, said it’s “100% Fake News.” The department’s new Rapid Response account posted about it all afternoon.
The repeated rebuttals were not about the news that Hegseth shared details of an impending military operation in a group chat with his wife and brother on an unsecured platform. Nor was it about the ongoing campaign in Yemen, military recruitment, or the campaign to root out DEI from the Defense Department.
Rather, it was a multipronged response to a CBS report that the secretary “recently ordered modifications to a room next to the Pentagon press briefing room to retrofit it with a makeup studio that can be used to prepare for television appearances.”
A Pentagon spokesperson told the outlet that “changes and upgrades to the Pentagon Briefing Room are nothing new and routinely happen during changes in an administration.” The official also noted that they “opted for several less expensive, on-hand materiel solutions.”
In addition to the fairly boilerplate response from the Pentagon, Hegseth, Parnell, and the new Rapid Response X account went to the social media mattresses. Rapid Response alone posted about the story more than 10 times, including reposts, in the hours after the story was published. The account often boasts about the secretary’s work, appearances, and any other favorable content. In this particular instance, the account responded to several reporters from other outlets who shared the story on X.
“Does the fake news NOT have anything better to do?” the Rapid Response account posted. “1. No lighted mirror. 2. It didn’t cost thousands. 3. The items that were added to the GREEN ROOM (not a makeup studio) came from existing inventory. This story is TRASH!”
It then posted a link to that comment in response to several reporters who shared the story. Democrats, understandably, were all too happy to make hay with the report. It continued to post about the story into Thursday afternoon, responding to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) almost 24 hours after he took a shot at the department.
“When an individual comes into that office, talks about returning the Pentagon to the warfighters, and then spends three months installing a makeup studio in the Pentagon so he can do Fox News hits is not an individual who’s serious about actually improving morale or readiness within the Department of Defense, nor is it an individual who is going to be taken seriously by the likes of Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping or the ayatollah,” Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) said on CNN.
“Nothing screams warrior culture more than a makeup studio,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) added. “Hegseth was derelict in his duties by repeatedly using his personal phone to disclose ongoing combat operations and is now wasting taxpayer dollars. How does a makeup studio at Pentagon help troops? He needs to resign.”
Hegseth has not held a briefing, though he has frequently gone on his old network, Fox News, including this week, to respond to the latest developments in the Signal group chat saga. Earlier this week, he was interviewed by the Washington Examiner’s Salena Zito. Parnell has held one on-the-record briefing during his tenure as the top spokesman.
Pentagon deputy press secretary Kingsley Wilson told the Washington Examiner that they’re pushing back on social media “because CBS published a fake news story and should have issued a retraction and apology.”
Hegseth has promoted the “warrior ethos,” as he calls it, and frequently says that it’s his mandate from President Donald Trump to improve “lethality.” He often does physical training with troops when he is on the road visiting military installations, which his public affairs office routinely highlights.
While the Pentagon’s communications strategy seemingly focused on whether the upgrades to the green room amounted to “a makeup studio,” the department has faced significant turmoil over the last several weeks, which detractors have argued were concerns they had regarding his nomination coming to fruition.
Hegseth fired three staffers last week, whom he alleged were behind a series of media leaks. These officials, who deny the allegations, are longtime supporters of Trump and Hegseth.
Those officials, Hegseth said, were behind new reporting this week that the secretary shared operational details regarding the impending operations in Yemen against the Houthis in not one but two Signal group chats. The previously unreported one included his now-former advisers, wife, brother, and personal lawyer, though none had any clear reason to read in on an ongoing operation.
Former interim top Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot, who served in the first Trump administration, also left the department last week. He, too, is a member of the MAGA movement.
“It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon,” he wrote in an op-ed published in Politico. “Even strong backers of the secretary like me must admit: The last month has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon — and it’s becoming a real problem for the administration.”
In addition, Politico reported Thursday that Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, would be leaving the department. He had initially been set to transition to a different role within the Pentagon, but he is instead moving back to a government relations position.
Hegseth has made culture war issues a central tenet of his tenure as secretary. He banned transgender people from serving in the military, though that is now in a legal battle; ended all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and positions; and he’s trying to reenlist service members who were discharged over their refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
“As we welcome those warriors back, we’re giving wokeness the boot,” Hegseth said during an address Wednesday at the U.S. Army College. “We’ve said goodbye to the harmful effects of woke culture and so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. We’re removing DEI content, eliminating quotas, ensuring recruitment, retention, and promotions are based on performance, not immutable characteristics. DEI is dead at DOD.”
There was some blowback regarding their efforts to scrub DEI from all things DOD, in part because the order was left vague and open to interpretation. In some instances, things were unintentionally flagged due to keyword searches the departments used.
The former television personality still has the confidence of the president and nearly the entire Republican Party, while Democrats have continued their attacks against him, which largely focus on his inexperience and personal conduct.
Hegseth welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte to the Pentagon on Thursday.
By: Mike Brest
Source: Washington Examiner