Retired Major General Accuses Trump and Hegseth of ‘Spewing Lies’ Over Sailors’ Conditions

Retired Major General Randy Manner blasted President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for “spewing lies” on Friday over their insistence that there are no problems aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

The Lincoln’s conditions have come under mounting scrutiny as its deployment, which began in November and was initially expected to end in May, has stretched on amid the war with Iran. Sailors and their families have described exhaustion, homesickness, food and supply shortages, and inadequate support aboard the carrier. The wife of a 19-year-old sailor who jumped overboard on Aug. 3 described the incident as a suicide attempt, telling MS NOW he spent roughly an hour in the water before being rescued.

Hegseth has rejected those accounts as “completely misrepresented,” accusing the media Friday of deliberately distorting conditions aboard the Lincoln and insisting its sailors are “very proud” of their mission. Trump similarly dismissed concerns Friday, claiming families are not actually worried about their loved ones aboard the ship and saying the sailors have been deployed “not nearly long enough.”

Manner, speaking on Friday’s edition of CNN’s OutFront, told host Erin Burnett that the president’s “totally inappropriate” comments would have gotten him “relieved within minutes” if he was in the military. Notably, Trump received five draft deferments during the Vietnam War — four while attending college and a fifth for a medical diagnosis involving bone spurs in his heels.

When asked how he believes Hegseth and Trump’s comments will affect troops’ morale, the retired major general answered:

It negatively impacts morale. I used to say that the president and the secretary of defense were spewing propaganda. Unfortunately, now they’re actually spewing lies. In the interest of transparency, any good commander would say, “We are deploying a team immediately to land on the USS Abraham Lincoln to assess the situation, and to ensure that we properly address the issues that are there, and we will bring media with us in all transparency.” This administration wants to say, “There’s nothing to see here. All the families are lying. There are no issues on it.” And that is absolutely not the case.

While CNN’s Pamela Brown reported Thursday that the aircraft carrier USS George Washington had been sent to relieve the Lincoln, she noted that it remains unclear when help would arrive. Additionally, the wife of a service member aboard the ship told the network’s Jake Tapper earlier on Friday that the president and the defense secretary’s claims were “infuriating.”

Watch the full clip above via CNN.

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