{"id":2452486,"date":"2025-06-26T15:09:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T19:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/brian-stelter-asserts-its-patriotic-to-ask-these-questions\/"},"modified":"2025-06-26T15:10:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T19:10:41","slug":"brian-stelter-asserts-its-patriotic-to-ask-these-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/brian-stelter-asserts-its-patriotic-to-ask-these-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian Stelter asserts it&#8217;s &#8216;patriotic to ask these questions&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbrian-stelter-asserts-its-patriotic-to-ask-these-questions%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2452486&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In a recent discussion on CNN, Chief Media Strategist Brian Stelter defended the network&#8217;s reporting regarding the recent U.S. strikes against Iran&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/iran-agrees-to-extend-un-nuclear-checks-for-3-months\/\" title=\"Iran agrees to extend UN nuclear checks for 3 months\">nuclear facilities<\/a>. He asserted that contrary to claims made by President Trump and Defense secretary Pete Hegseth, the strikes only delayed Iran&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/israeli-pm-naftali-bennett-to-antony-blinken-u-s-must-immediately-halt-talks-with-iran\/\" title=\"Israeli PM Naftali Bennett to Antony Blinken: U.S. Must Im...tely Halt Talks with Iran\">nuclear programme<\/a> by six months, as reported by insider sources from the Defense Intelligence Agency. Hegseth criticized media coverage, suggesting that it was unpatriotic to question the government&#8217;s narrative on the strikes&#8217; effectiveness.<\/p>\n<p>Stelter argued that asking critical questions is essential for democratic accountability, drawing parallels to historical media scrutiny during the Vietnam War and the Iraq War. He emphasized that CNN did not label the mission a failure, noting that not all facts are known yet. Despite Hegseth&#8217;s assertion of a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >prosperous operation<\/a>, he acknowledged low confidence in the leaked report&#8217;s conclusions. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-israelis-are-fed-up-with-the-un-palestinian-refugee-agency-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Why Israelis are fed up with the UN Palestinian \u2018refugee\u2019 agency - Washington Examiner\">controversy highlights ongoing tensions<\/a> between the media and government officials about the portrayal and impact of military actions.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">CNN&rsquo;s Stelter refutes Hegseth on Iran bombing leak: &lsquo;Patriotic to ask these questions&rsquo;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/cnn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">CNN&rsquo;s<\/a> Chief Media Strategist <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/brian-stelter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Brian Stelter<\/a> defended his outlet for reporting that the recent strikes against Iran only set back its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/national-security\/3454011\/tulsi-gabbard-new-intel-iran-confirms-iranian-nuclear-facilities-destroyed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"nuclear program\">nuclear program<\/a> by six months, according to inside sources.<\/p>\n<p>The Defense Intelligence Agency&rsquo;s preliminary assessment of the strike&rsquo;s damage was&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/3452950\/us-strikes-only-set-iran-nuclear-program-back-months-intelligence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">leaked this week<\/a>, including its conclusion that less damage was inflicted than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">President Donald Trump&nbsp;<\/a>and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/3450186\/pentagon-details-b2-mission-operation-midnight-hammer-bombing-iran\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"publicly claimed\">publicly claimed<\/a>. Over the weekend, these strikes targeted the Fordow fuel enrichment plant and the Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities. Trump said at the time that the three sites were &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3449992\/us-has-completed-bombing-of-iranian-nuclear-sites-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">totally obliterated<\/a>&rdquo; by over a dozen 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs and 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/3454836\/dan-caine-praises-fordow-operation-officers\/\">Dan Caine praises officers who started Fordow operation planning 15 years ago<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/3454881\/dave-mccormick-qatar-base-strike-us-young-service-members\/\">Dave McCormick lauds young service members: &#8216;That&#8217;s the military I know&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/3454750\/pete-hegseth-scolds-media-coverage-assessment-iran-strikes\/\">Pete Hegseth excoriates media for coverage of assessment on Iran strikes<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;The public still has a lot that wants to know about the impact of the strikes, but the administration is picking a fight with the press and casting legitimate journalism as unpatriotic,&rdquo; Stelter said Thursday on CNN&rsquo;s <em>The Situation Room<\/em> <em>with Wolf Blitzer<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tpd-featured-video featured-post-video in-content bridtv\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2158445\" class=\"brid\" style=\"width:1280;height:720;\"> <\/div>\n<div class=\"tpd-featured-video-placeholder\" style=\"position:relative;overflow:hidden;width:100%;padding-top:56.25%;background-color:#000;\">\n<div style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;bottom:0;right:0;width:100%;height:100%\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 640px; max-height: 360px; min-width: 320px; min-height: 180px; overflow: hidden;\">\n<div style=\"position: relative; width: 100%; padding-top: 56.25%;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/share.grabien.com\/share.php?id=3003698&amp;userid=11311&amp;loginid=10455&amp;playercolor=%23000000&amp;playersize=auto&amp;code=4fa23e9d1399f844c48645300c244d45\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: 0px;\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;CNN did not report that this mission was a failure. Far from it. It may have turned out to be a tremendous success. We just don&lsquo;t know all the facts yet. And neither does the U.S. Government,&rdquo; Stelter went on. &ldquo;So this performance from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pete-hegseth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Hegseth\">Hegseth<\/a> today is part of a pattern of attacking the press, trying to claim it&lsquo;s unpatriotic to ask these questions. But I think the history going back to Vietnam and, more recently, the Iraq war shows that it is quite patriotic to ask these questions and hold the government to account.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Stelter responded to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/3454750\/pete-hegseth-scolds-media-coverage-assessment-iran-strikes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"rant\">Hegseth&rsquo;s rant<\/a> in the Pentagon&rsquo;s briefing room Thursday morning. There, Hegseth reminded members of the media that the report was &ldquo;preliminary&rdquo; and that &ldquo;there&rsquo;s low confidence in this particular report.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I mean specifically you, the press corps, because you cheer against Trump so hard, it&rsquo;s like in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump,&rdquo; Hegseth said. <\/p>\n<p>At the time, Hegseth only called out Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin because she &ldquo;misrepresents most intentionally.&rdquo; Stelter opted to issue a response as his outlet initially broke the story Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/3453677\/ted-cruz-leak-downplays-as-highly-dubious-surrounding-iran-strikes\/\"><strong>TED CRUZ DOWNPLAYS &lsquo;HIGHLY DUBIOUS&rsquo; LEAK SURROUNDING STRIKES ON IRAN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CNNPR\/status\/1937954110302519517\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CNN defended the reporter<\/a>&nbsp;behind the article despite Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3454819\/trump-hegseth-news-conference-blasting-media-coverage-iran-strikes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"suggesting\">suggesting<\/a> that the &ldquo;Fake News&rdquo; outlets &ldquo;should fire everyone involved in this Witch Hunt.&rdquo; The outlet said criticisms of its reporting were &ldquo;not reasonable.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"zxx\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WmM0MYBjkn\">pic.twitter.com\/WmM0MYBjkn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; CNN Communications (@CNNPR) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CNNPR\/status\/1937954110302519517?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 25, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Hegseth&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/3453369\/pete-hegseth-pentagon-intelligence-leak-investigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">confirmed<\/a>&nbsp;that his department and the FBI will investigate the leak. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-senators-grill-secy-of-state-blinken-over-bidens-afghan-fiasco\/\" title=\"GOP senators grill Secy. of State Blinken over Biden\u2019s Afghan fiasco\">secretary denied<\/a> any disparity between the assessment and his public analysis of the strike and continued to call the mission an &ldquo;overwhelming success.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2158445\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2158445\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stelter defends CNN&#8217;s Iran strike report, calls questions patriotic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2631,"featured_media":2452487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Brian-Stelter.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[40112,33295,57977],"class_list":["post-2452486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-brian-stelter","tag-media-criticism","tag-patriotic-questions"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Brian-Stelter.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2631"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2452486"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2452494,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452486\/revisions\/2452494"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2452487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2452486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2452486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2452486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}