Karoline Leavitt’s deputy blew up after CBS News’ 60 Minutes reported on the Trump administration’s lack of preparation for the war with Iran.
60 Minutes on Sunday dug into the war’s growing economic toll and highlighted the threat from Iran’s cheaply-made drones, which have inflicted damage and forced U.S. forces to use expensive defenses against them.
Foreign policy expert Mara Karlin told 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl that while the Trump administration “went into this war prepared for certain threats, like missiles,” it had not prepared “for other threats like drones hitting soft targets.”
Karlin said she was not surprised about how Iran has waged war: “If anyone were to war game this out, you knew there were a couple things the Iranian regime would do. They would always look at how to use cheap, tough to counter capabilities like drones in as many spots as possible.”
The 60 Minutes broadcast notes that Karlin’s Pentagon career spans both Republican and Democratic administrations, including a stint as assistant secretary of defense for strategy, plans, and capabilities under Biden.
But on Monday, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly lashed out at 60 Minutes for featuring Karlin, who was one of several experts interviewed on the program.
“Reporters love to use so-called ‘experts’ to attack the President. These are the left-wing hacks they’re talking about,” Kelly, 29, fumed on X in response to a clip of Karlin on 60 Minutes. “This woman was Assistant Secretary of Defense during Joe Biden’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal.”
Kelly, who often responds to reporters’ inquiries with insults, added a “FACT CHECK,” claiming, “Iranian drone attacks are down 95 percent!”
The Leavitt aide appeared to be echoing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who declared on Friday that drone attacks had dropped 95 percent the day before.
He had also claimed, “As of two days ago, Iran’s entire ballistic missile production capacity—every company that builds every component of those missiles—has been functionally defeated, destroyed.”
But according to 60 Minutes, the amount of damage from Iranian drone strikes has “come as a jolt,” draining U.S. weapons stockpiles and threatening the Strait of Hormuz. The war’s first six U.S. service member casualties were also caused by an Iranian drone strike.
In the same broadcast, global energy expert Bob McNally, a former energy adviser to President George W. Bush, suggested the Trump administration failed to anticipate how Iran could block the Strait of Hormuz and spike global oil prices.
“We’re not surprised at all,” McNally said.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Karlin and CBS News for comment.
