Fox’s Pete Hegseth Says Soleimani’s Funeral Is ‘Propaganda’: People Are ‘Forced to Attend’

Fox News’ Pete Hegseth doubts the outpouring of national mourning in Iran following the death of General Qassem Soleimani is genuine. Filling in for Steve Doocy on Fox & Friends, Hegseth claimed on Tuesday without evidence that people had been forced to attend the four day event.

“The entire premise of the current Iranian regime is Islamic revolution and exportation of terrorism to advance their cause,” Hegseth said.

“These protests, you know what they are? They’re propaganda,” he said, referring to the scenes of mourners in Iran.

“They’re hoping that American news outlets will splash across their pages how beloved this general was. If you actually look at the report, plenty of students and officials have been forced to attend these. There’s a culture there if you don’t support the ruling ayatollahs someone’s looking out for you.”

“Just last November, thousands of Iranians took to the streets. Did you see it? No, because Iran pulled the plug on the internet for five days while they killed, reports say they killed over 1500 Iranian protesters, jailed over 7,000. So if you are a dissident of this regime and you don’t like what they’re doing, there’s no photograph for you on the cover.”

Hegseth’s argument is disingenuous and self-contradictory. About one million people turned out to mourn Soleimani in Tehran on Monday and experts on the country agree that he was a widely respected figure there. The fact that protests have taken place also undermines his claim that the government has such strong control over its’ people.

Watch the video above, via Fox News.