White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 4, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
CNN's Jake Tapper scolded a pair of Trump administration cronies on Wednesday for their "offensive" comments.
On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN's Kaitlan Collins that the White House believes the network's coverage of U.S. soldiers who died in the aftermath of the U.S. attack on Iran is "trying to make the president look bad." Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made similar comments earlier in the day.
Collins and Tapper discussed the exchanges on "The Lead." Tapper was none too pleased with the remarks.
"It really is the height of solipsism and narcissism to think that our coverage of fallen warriors has anything to do with how we cover a president," Tapper said. "I'm just utterly shocked that Hegseth and now Karoline Leavitt are saying it. It's just, I don't even really know what to say. It's so offensive. I don't care what they think about us. It's so offensive to the families who deserve coverage."
Early Saturday, U.S. and Israeli troops coordinated a bombing campaign that hit more than 100 sites across Iran and killed several of the country's top military and political leaders, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Six military troops have died in the aftermath of those attacks. The Pentagon has identified four of the military troops so far.