Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin has stepped in it again, and this time she earned a rebuke from newly-minted Secretary of State Pete Hegseth.
For several years, it’s been obvious that the Pentagon reporter has had it out for the modern iteration of the Republican Party. Feel free to speculate as to exactly why, but it seems to revolve around the fact that the Obama and Biden administrations were, for all intents and purposes, simply neoconservative cut-outs. A simple glance at her reporting makes it clear that Griffin believes the status quo first established under President George W. Bush is unassailable, and any attempts to change it cause her great consternation.
Now, would she ever admit that? Of course, not. Like most press reporters, she’ll forever hide behind a veneer of faux objectivity. Her history paints a different story, though. For example, back in 2019, she started a frenzy after reporting that Ken Starr had stated Donald Trump had committed bribery (this was during the first impeachment attempt against him). After 13,000 likes, she finally offered a little-seen “clarification,” admitting that Starr was simply interpreting the words of far-left Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), not offering his own evidence of his own.
The true mask-off moment for Griffin was after Joe Biden’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, though. Instead of demanding answers and accountability, she quickly became a stenographer for the Mark Milleys of the world, defending the Pentagon at all costs. What that translated to was an incredibly muted response to Biden’s failures because of how inextricably linked the White House and the Department of Defense were.
SEE: Fox News Decides to Play Comms Director for Mark Milley
In 2023, Griffin shared a letter urging the unconditional reauthorization of the government’s Section 702 authority (which has been used to illegally spy on Americans). Some of the signers were the same people who signed the infamous “51 intelligence leaders” letter falsely stating the Hunter Biden laptop was “Russian disinformation.” More recently, the Fox News reporter rushed to push left-wing talking points regarding the Trump administration’s reforms of USAID, claiming that they benefited China and Russia.
Purge continues at USAID, many fear elimination, a win for China and Russia as developing nations and allies will turn to them for aid.
Fox has learned 50 senior USAID staff were placed on administrative leave then all staff were subjected to a gag order. https://t.co/L6FdBykH6j— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) February 3, 2025
Yes, I’m sure China and Russia will be rushing to waste money on transgender operas and DEI in Eastern European countries. But you get the idea. Griffin sees any change in how American foreign policy operates as an inherent negative no matter how much corruption and waste may have occurred under the status quo.
That leads me to her latest report, which was simply a copy and paste of a pathetic attack by Congressional Democrats on Pete Hegseth and the recent cuts to USAID.
Dems on House Appropriations Committee ask why Sec Hegseth needs $137,297 for home repairs/paint for government residence, in light of DOGE efforts to save tax payer money? Letter below: https://t.co/XdbOTBeRJ5 pic.twitter.com/KDVV3uffYf
— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) February 7, 2025
Fox News becoming the comms shop for Democrats on Capitol Hill isn’t something I had on my 2025 bingo card, but here we are.
So is there anything to this report? Does it actually show rank hypocrisy within the Trump administration regarding spending cuts? In a word, no. The aforementioned repairs were initiated and paid for under the Biden administration, which is what Hegseth helpfully and justifiably pointed out when he responded to Griffin’s “reporting.”
Fake News of the Day (not surprising from Democrats & @JenGriffinFNC; same thing)
Any/all house repairs were going to happen no matter who was moving in—and were all initiated by DoD.
But Dems/Jen don’t care about facts; they’re just Trump haters. https://t.co/vpaUqwTkru
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) February 8, 2025
For those who would make the excuse that Griffin was just reporting the news, nowhere in the letter is the Department of Government mentioned. That’s her spin being applied as a way to snipe at the gutting of USAID grants to unaccountable, often hostile NGOs around the globe.
For context, it is not unusual for a Secretary of Defense to live in military housing. Lloyd Austin chose to live in a private estate of nearly 10,000 square feet, but he was also worth seven million dollars due to holding various lucrative board positions with defense contractors. Regardless, may I suggest that there’s a difference between repairing government-owned military housing and sending money to South America for a transgender comic book? One seems far more justifiable as an expense than the other. And again, it was Griffin who introduced the DOGE spin (which relates to USAID spending), so I’m responding within that framework.
But hey, if this is what Fox News wants from their Pentagon reporter, they are welcome to it. In my view, it comes across as Griffin continually throwing a fit because she didn’t her way and changes are being made. Reporters should report with a critical eye, not be stenographers for politicians and appointees who support their preferred outcomes.
