NY Times dragged for trying to fact-check Hegseth's praise of ‘our boys' flying B-2 bombers — by pointing women can pilot planes, too
The US has officially joined Israel in its battle against nuclear power Iran, and the New York Times was ready and waiting to wag a woke finger in the direction of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his choice of words in a press briefing.
In a Sunday news conference, Hegseth heaped praise on President Trump and the military campaign that saw six 'bunker buster' bombs dropped on key nuclear sites in the country.
'The operation President Trump planned was bold and it was brilliant, showing the world that American deterrence is back,' he said, warning, 'when this president speaks, the world should listen — and the US military, we can back it up.'
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3 Hegseth praised President Trump on the six 'bunker buster' bombs dropped on key nuclear sites in Iran, referring to the B-2 pilots as 'our boys on those bombers,' leading to the news outlet responding to the word choice.
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At one point, Hegseth casually called the B-2 pilots who dropped the 15-ton bombs on targets in Iran 'our boys on those bombers,' which instantly got the Gray Lady in high dudgeon.
'In the briefing, Hegseth referred to B-2 pilots as 'our boys on those bombers,' yet both men and women have been trained to fly them,' NYT Pentagon reporter John Ismay corrected the record on the outlet's blog.
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3 'Both men and women have been trained to fly them,' NYT Pentagon reporter John Ismay corrected the record on the outlet's blog.
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The posting drew hundreds of scornful comments on social media.
'This is why people use the New York Times to line their bird cages,' one poster mused.
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3 'This is why people use the New York Times to line their bird cages,' one poster said as the post drew in scornful comments on social media.
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'Yes, let's make sure to be politically correct at this serious time,' another sarcastically quipped.
'What an idiot. We women know exactly what Secretary Hegseth meant,' said an X user.
It's not clear whether any women took part in the 37-hour B-2 bomber raid, which saw the stealth planes take off from and return to Whiteman Air Force Base in western Missouri.
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