ABC News anchor Jonathan Karl spent part of Sunday morning’s broadcast of “This Week” talking about a Washington Post hit piece attacking War Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The story in question alleged that Hegseth had ordered a second strike on a boat full of narco-terrorists when the first had left two survivors.
Hegseth responded to the story in a lengthy post on X, saying in part, “As usual, the fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland. As we’ve said from the beginning, and in every statement, these highly effective strikes are specifically intended to be ‘lethal, kinetic strikes.’ The declared intent is to stop lethal drugs, destroy narco-boats, and kill the narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people. Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization.”
But when Karl raised the issue on Sunday morning, he opted to speak instead with ABC’s global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz, who has reported extensively on the military but has never served herself.
WATCH:
“Did those two men clinging to the side of the boat pose an imminent threat?”@MarthaRaddatz weighs in on the Washington Post reporting of a military strike that allegedly targeted two survivors in the Caribbean. https://t.co/qh5zs8hdWr pic.twitter.com/alnukF1hlq
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) November 30, 2025
Raddatz cited The Washington Post report and said that the second strike — executed when the two survivors were apparently clinging to the wreckage of the destroyed boat — had been ordered based on verbal instruction from Hegseth himself to “kill everybody.”
“Did those two men clinging to the side of the boat pose an imminent threat?” she asked, going on to wonder whether the order to strike a second time had been given with the knowledge that survivors were hanging on for dear life, and whether the lawyers had been consulted about the legality of such a strike.
The conversation focused on the idea that attacking when there was no “imminent threat” would be a violation of the “rules of war.”
But as Marine Corps veteran and Fox News personality Joey Jones said on “The Big Weekend Show,” an “imminent threat” does not always have to come in the form of guns pointed at American citizens.
WATCH:
🚨 Joey Jones just ended the left with one quote:
“Spare me the tears over terrorists when you don’t cry over Americans who’ve died from them. Spare me the tears over terrorists when you didn’t have anything to say when President Obama droned American citizens.”
🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/6ISsgZkWzD
— Gina Milan (@ginamilan_) November 29, 2025
Jones noted that if the survivors were able to radio others in their drug trafficking network, that could be just as grave a threat — and could also quickly result in men with guns showing up to defend them.