Pete Hegseth blasts ex-Fox colleague: 'You're the worst

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was involved in a heated exchange with one of the senior-most reporters at the Pentagon and his former colleague, Fox News' Jennifer Griffin at the press briefing Thursday. Hegseth was addressing ‘intelligence leak’ claims days after the US' strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.

The verbal clash between Hegseth and Griffin came amid a broader push to discredit media outlets over reporting on intelligence laying out the extent of damages done by U.S. strikes to Iranian nuclear sites. Hegseth insisted Thursday that American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites were a success, backing President Donald Trump and berating the media for questioning the results of the operation.

Do you have certainty that all the highly enriched uranium was inside the Fordo mountain?” Griffin asked Hegseth during a contentious press conference early Thursday morning, reported The Hill. The former Fox host did not answer the question, but instead attacked the correspondent.

Griffin noted satellite imagery she said showed “more than a dozen trucks” at the site of the attacks “a few days in advance.” “Of course we’re watching it,” Hegseth said before attacking the reporter. “Jennifer, you’ve been about the worst. The one who misrepresents the most intentionally.” Griffin sat up in her chair to push back on Hegseth’s attack.