Hegseth fires back at 'quagmire' label, tells Garamendi 'shame on you' in House hearing

WASHINGTON, DC: Pete Hegseth, on Wednesday, April 29, directed a sharp rebuke at Rep John Garamendi during a tense House hearing after the Democrat labeled the Iran war a “quagmire” on CNN and accused the Trump administration of misleading the public.

The clash became one of the most heated moments of Hegseth’s first congressional appearance since President Donald Trump launched military action against Iran.

Pete Hegseth snaps at John Garamendi and says 'shame on you'

Responding directly to Garamendi’s earlier comments on CNN, Hegseth said the congressman’s language was reckless and insulting to US forces.

“My generation served in a quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Hegseth said. “Years and years of nebulous missions and utopian nation-building that led us to nothing.”

He then turned to the current conflict, saying, “Two months in, Congressman, you should know better. Shame on you for calling this a quagmire.”

Hegseth argued that using the term so early in the campaign undermined morale and handed propaganda to adversaries.

“Don’t say I support the troops on one hand, and then a two-month mission is a quagmire,” he said. “Who are you cheering for here?”

Hegseth praised Trump’s decision to confront Tehran and insisted the campaign had already produced battlefield success.

“Our troops are doing incredible work,” he said. “They’ve done incredible things for the entirety of this mission.”

John Garamendi clashes with Pete Hegseth

In response, the California Democrat repeated his criticism face-to-face during the session.

“Sec Hegseth, you have been lying to the American public about this war from day one, and so has the president,” Garamendi said. “You have misled the public about why we are at war. You and the president have offered ever-changing reasons for this war.”

Hours before the hearing, Garamendi blasted both Trump and Hegseth in a CNN interview.

“I don’t believe a thing the president says,” he said. “He lies every day, gets up in the morning and lies, and goes to bed at night lying.”

He added that Hegseth was doing the same and said the administration had failed to clearly explain why America entered the war.

“The bottom line is that this is a war that has been conducted with chaos,” Garamendi said. “America is stuck in another Middle East quagmire.”