Pete Hegseth shuts down Tucker Carlson’s criticism of the Iran war after the podcaster calls it ‘disgusting and evil’

Pete Hegseth defended President Donald Trump‘s foreign policy after Tucker Carlson disparaged the ongoing war in Iran.

The secretary of defense referenced comments made by Carlson, who claimed that the Trump administration is planning to tune out the public outcry against the conflict.

“Tucker Carlson called the war ‘disgusting and evil’ and then said unconditional surrender — which the president has called for — means ‘foreign troops get to r*** your wives and daughters,’” Hegseth, 46, said during a recent speaking engagement.

“We’re busy executing on behalf of great patriotic Americans with a clear mission that’s 47 years overdue, and we’re gonna execute on that regardless of what people say about it,” he added.

Hegseth was referring to a February interview with ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jon Karl during which Carlson, 57, claimed “everyone knows” that “unconditional surrender” in Iran would mean “foreign troops get to r*** your wife and daughter if they want.”

At the time, he alleged his statements were backed by history.

“To avoid that, people will do anything,” he claimed.

“So that’s why it requires that level of force to get a population subdued to the point of unconditional surrender,” he continued. “And so in this case, of course we don’t have the ground force necessary. I don’t think Americans would voluntarily participate in it. I just don’t think we can do that.”

Carlson said that without support from the public, the military would need to turn to “weapons of mass destruction” like nuclear weapons to end the conflict. In fact, the conservative commentator speculated that the U.S. might already be moving in that direction.

Carlson also suggested Trump’s moves in Iran will have a negative impact on his support base.

“This is going to shuffle the deck in a profound way,” he said.

Even Trump voters are unhappy with the president’s recent activity in the Middle East.

The NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found 64 percent of adults in the United States believe the war is not worth fighting. While 61 percent of Republicans polled in July approved of how Trump is handling Iran, the number marked a decline from a June poll that showed a 71 percent approval rating on the conflict.

Losing support in the war could prove detrimental to the president as his approval rating is already in free fall. According to The Economist, 60 percent of Americans disapprove of the 80-year-old — a 25-point drop from the beginning of his second term.

According to a YouGov poll, the strikes against Iran were a driving factor in Trump’s record-low approval rating, as the war remains “deeply unpopular with most Americans.”

The public largely believes too much money is being spent on the conflict and that the situation will drag on far longer than it already has.