‘BS Hack Job’: White House Slams Reporter’s Claim of Hegseth-Rubio ‘Feud’ Over Iran

Sipa USA via AP

The White House slammed a report about a “feud” between Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio over U.S. strategy on Iran on Thursday, calling it a “BS hack job.”

Sean Mathews with Middle East Eye posted a “scoop” to X on Thursday, writing, “Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio are feuding over US approach to war on Iran.”

Mathews added, “Rubio and Hegseth ‘at each other’s throats’ over whether US should send troops to Iran.”

The reporting by Mathews and co-author Oscar Rickett cited “three former US officials and a senior regional official familiar with the matter.”

“Rubio and Hegseth were described as being ‘at each other’s throats’ over the question of whether the US should deploy troops to Iran at Israel’s request,” Mathews and Rickett wrote. “Hegseth is supportive of the position, while Rubio is deeply wary of entangling the US in a long war, the sources told MEE.”

The report continued, “One Gulf official told MEE that US officials have discussed sending special operations teams into Iran to target senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials and people familiar with Iran’s nuclear programme.”

Anna Kelly, White House principal deputy press secretary, shot down the report on  X.

“This is a BS hack job from a pro-Iran outlet,” Kelly wrote. “The entire administration is fully aligned on executing President Trump’s goals in Operation Epic Fury.”

Kelly added, “‘sources’ are clearly the voices in his head.”

Sean Parnell, assistant to the secretary of Defense for public affairs, also posted, “This is complete and total 100% FAKE NEWS written by a left-wing, pro-Iran outlet.”

The Middle East Eye web site describes the outlet as “an independently funded digital news organisation covering stories from the Middle East and North Africa, as well as related content from beyond the region.”

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!