'Great on TV, but don't let him run a war': McFaul mocks Hegseth's handling of Iran conflict

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has drawn little praise for his handling of the Iran war, which has claimed the lives of 18 U.S. service members. Among his sharpest critics is former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, who mocked Hegseth's record in a post on X. "Musk is a very innovative entrepreneur, but I wouldn't want him to do surgery on my knee. LeBron is a fantastic basketball player, but I wouldn't ask him to fix my Honda," he wrote on Thursday.

McFaul's punchline included a reference to Hegseth's former job as a Fox & Friends co-host. "Hegseth, I'm told, was a very good TV anchor, but I wouldn't ask him to execute a war," his post concluded. The 62-year-old has been a vocal critic of the military conflict with Iran, which began in February this year with U.S.-Israeli strikes, repeatedly characterizing it as an "unnecessary" war and calling it one of the greatest foreign policy debacles in decades.

In another post alongside the one slamming Hegseth, McFaul doubled down on his censure: "Let's be clear. Trump is not attacking Iran to stop the threat from that repressive dictatorship to its people, the region, or the U.S. Trump is bombing Iran to try to reopen the Strait of Hormuz that was open before he started his war," he said. The post comes as the conflict flares again, with America resuming strikes on Iran after the collapse of the fragile ceasefire agreement signed last month.

Hegseth's competence to lead one of the most significant government departments has been called into question this past week. He appeared before Congress to testify about the war in Iran, seeking approval of billions in supplemental funding for the effort. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) took aim at him, saying "the U.S. military does not need more testosterone; it needs better leadership"—a jab at Hegseth's new policy requiring testosterone screenings for service members during their annual health checkups.

A recent incident at the Pentagon has also raised concerns about its functioning under Hegseth. The department's official online casualty list for the Iran war excluded four soldiers who died last weekend in Iranian strikes on Jordan, according to The New York Times, which reported that the casualty figure was 18 on Wednesday before the count was changed to 14 on Thursday. Acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez attributed the change to "temporary data disruptions."

But three military officials told the Times a different story: the administration removed the four service members, killed between July 17 and 19, because their deaths occurred after President Trump declared a ceasefire in April. Another flashpoint has been Hegseth's interference in the regular promotion process, reportedly blocking several high-ranking service members—including four Army officers, two Black men and two female soldiers—from becoming one-star generals.