‘A Shocking Lack of Understanding’: Fox News Foreign Correspondent Absolutely Destroys SecDef Esper After Iran Presser

Fox News Foreign Correspondent Trey Yingst did not mince words in response to the Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s Tuesday afternoon press conference regarding the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran.

Sitting in for Dana Perino, guest anchor Trace Gallagher went straight to Jerusalem-based Yingst, who plainly described Esper’s comments “a shocking lack of understanding from America’s top defense official about what’s actually happening on the ground here in Iraq.”

Esper had spoken about a number of topics related to Iran, but it was his comments on Iraq that raised Yingst’s ire. Regarding the Iraqi Parliament’s recent voting to expel U.S. troops from Iraq, Esper diminished as a partisan vote, suggesting that it was mostly Shia that voted for expelling US forces, adding that the Shia were under duress,  he says he does not believe it’s a binding resolution.

Yingst then proceeded to point out how Esper’s assessment of the situation in Iraq was incorrect. He noted how the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq met with the Iraqi prime minister at length discussing the decision by the Iraqi Parliament to ask America to remove troops from Iraq. ‘That message delivered directly to the American representative in Baghdad,” adding “You just heard the defense secretary say he wasn’t aware of any message delivered.”

“The defense secretary also saying, to his knowledge, there was no signed letter,” Yingst noted, adding, “the Iraqis, including the prime minister says one exists.”

“So the gap between what the U.S. Wants and what the Iraqis want continues to widen, and Everything the defense secretary just said is going to be questioned tomorrow in Baghdad, as many politicians wonder about what this means moving forward if there are continued Iranian threats.”

Watch above via Fox News.

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