White House Apologizes For Accidentally Outing Special Forces Troops on Instagram: ‘We Regret the Error’

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

The White House issued an apology on Thursday after it accidentally revealed the faces of U.S. Special Forces troops in Israel on Instagram.

Following President Joe Biden’s trip to Israel this week, the official White House Instagram page posted a photo of Biden with several Delta Force operators, whose faces were clearly visible.

“In Israel, President Biden met with first responders to thank them for their bravery and the work they’re doing in response to the Hamas terrorist attacks,” the description of the photo read.

After social media users accused the White House of blowing the Delta Force operators’ cover and of putting their lives in danger, the White House quickly deleted its post. However, the photo had already been viewed by hundreds of thousands of Instagram users and received thousands of likes by the time of its removal.

In a statement to Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin on Thursday, a White House spokesperson apologized for the blunder.

“As soon as this was brought to our attention, we immediately deleted the photo,” said the spokesperson. “We regret the error and any issues this may have caused.”

Fox News contributor Sara Carter questioned, “Is the White House really this stupid or are they just trying to get people targeted ? This is totally unacceptable…”

She explained, “These operators are required to maintain a level of discretion that this administration has completely disregarded. I would know, my husband is a retired operator. They are elite trained fighters and something as simple as facial ID recognition is putting them in direct threat by adversaries. How did this happen White House?”

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