‘That Does Not Sound Like Total Control’: Bret Baier Presses Energy Secretary Over Iran

Fox News host Bret Baier cast serious doubt on Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s defense of President Donald Trump’s recent claims about the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, bluntly observing, “That does not sound like total control.”

On Tuesday evening, Trump told reporters, referencing the country’s ongoing war with Iran, “We totally control the Strait of Hormuz.” Last weekend, however, CBS News reported that Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said the waterway will not open until the U.S. “corrects its behavior.”

Baier asked Wright on Thursday’s edition of Fox News’ Special Report about statistics showing a dramatic drop in the number of vessels passing through the strait, prompting the energy secretary to argue that the figures are misleading because ships in the area have turned off their transponders for safety and that more barrels of oil are moving through the area than are actually reported.

“But Mr. Secretary,” Baier countered, “you can concede, can’t you, that the U.S. doesn’t have total control over the Strait of Hormuz?”

Wright responded, “Look, Iran is attempting to hold the world economy hostage and to terrorize their neighbors. They built up a giant arsenal, so are they causing difficulties in the region? Absolutely, um, but they have a losing strategy. At the end, that will lead to the collapse of the regime in Iran, as their economy gets strangled, um, but are they causing some difficulties for their neighbors and the world economy? Absolutely. Their ability to cause difficulties is declining. Our ability to escort and bring products out of that region is growing.”

“I mean, that does not sound like total control,” Baier admitted. The Fox News host went on to question the energy secretary over what he thinks gas and oil prices will look like in the fall, to which Wright responded, “I have no clairvoyance.”

Watch the clip above via Fox News.

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