'Thin skinned': Dem lawmaker takes brutal swipe at 'weekend news anchor' Hegseth

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) told CNN what he really thought about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a Friday appearance with anchor Kate Bolduan.

Bolduan asked about Thursday's fiery Pentagon briefing on the Iran strikes, saying, "You had some harsh words mocking the Defense secretary for his, I'll call it an 'emotional speech,' during the Pentagon briefing. What is your take on why the Defense secretary is handling questions about the mission the way that he is, and berating reporters for accurate reporting?"

"Well, he's very thin skinned," Swalwell began. "You know, for someone who likes to thump his chest and thinks that he can define who a warrior is and isn't and, you know, has tried to remove women from combat roles — he has shown himself to be quite unstable at these briefings. And that's probably because he's quite unqualified.

Swalwell said he was thankful that there were "qualified" leaders in the military and that they should be the ones "forward-facing...to the public to answer these questions, not a weekend news anchor from Fox News."

Bolduan pushed back on that assertion saying, "Disparaging news anchors is never a good way to win my — to get in good with me."

Swalwell interjected, "Weekend. Weekend news anchor, Kate. You're primetime. You're with the big show!"

In addition to calling out CNN and The New York Times for "spinning" the news against President Donald Trump, Hegseth called out former Fox News colleague Jennifer Griffin who asked about one of the bombing sites in Iran.

"Of course, we're watching every single aspect," Hegseth said before adding, "But, Jennifer, you've been about the worst. The one who misrepresents the most intentionally what...the president says."

Watch the clip below via CNN or click here.