By S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole –

Prof S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole

On 14 March 2026, the Federal Communication Commision Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump-appointed Republican, issued a stern warning to news outlets  that if they share ‘distortions’ about the US war with Iran, they could lose their licences. The administration of President Donald Trump has already warned that news outlets could have their broadcasting licences revoked over critical reporting on the war against Iran, accusing the media of “distortions”.

Brendan Carr added in a social media post  on Saturday that broadcasters must “operate in the public interest”, or else lose their licences.

However, many commentators have already noted that every press-statement by Trump is a distortion; a lie.

A glaring example is US defence secretary Pete Hegseth’s claim that Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was “wounded and likely disfigured” and that the country’s leadership was “desperate and hiding.”

“They’ve gone underground, cowering. That’s what rats do,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing alongside the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Hegseth also cast doubt on a message attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei that was read on Iranian state television:

“He put out a statement yesterday, a weak one actually, but there was no voice and there was no video. It was a written statement,” Hegseth said, suggesting he, Khamenei, is dead:

“Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why.”

He added that the situation inside Iran’s leadership was unclear. “Who’s in charge? Iran may not even know.”

Even as he said this, Trump contradicted Hegseth, in an interview on Fox News Radio that aired on Friday morning claiming “Khamenei is wounded. I think he probably is [alive]. I think he is damaged, but I think he’s probably alive in some form, you know.”

This claim about the Iranian leaders being like rats takes the cake for bias since there is no basis for it.  The insult that they are rats would be repeatedly broadcast even though any of us, even Hegseth, would hide if attacked by thousands of bombs bankrolled by unlimited US tax-payer money from the safety of the White House.

A top Iranian official condemned Hegseth’s  comparison of Iranian leaders to “rats” on Friday. Ali Larijani, the secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, criticized Hegseth’s comments in a post on X on Friday afternoon. Said he,

“Mr. Hegseth! Our leaders have been, and still are, among the people. But your leaders? On Epstein’s island!”

he said, referencing the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Several prominent business and political leaders were named in the Justice Department’s documents released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act last year.

In his post, Larijani included videos of him and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian greeting and taking pictures with people on the streets of Tehran. The pair participated in Quds Day on Friday, an annual march in support of Palestinians and in opposition to Israeli occupation.

The Iranian president called for unity among the Iranian people on Friday as the U.S. and Israel continue to launch joint strikes on the country, which killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“Today, the government’s most important concern, besides making the necessary preparations for all-out defense, is to organize the affairs of the people,” Pezeshkian an Iranian politician wrote on X. “The cooperation, empathy, and participation of all branches of government are essential, and the support of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution is a great asset for the government.”

Hegseth has vowed to continue strikes on Iran following the deaths of seven U.S. service members during Iranian counterstrikes on U.S. bases in the Middle East.

“Their deaths will not be in vain,” the secretary wrote on X. “We will honor them with action. We will hunt down the Iranian radicals responsible, dismantle their military capabilities, and ensure that justice is swift.

Also today, according to The New York Times, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has urged all American citizens to leave Iraq immediately following a missile attack on its compound, rather than merely Iranian employees being asked to vacate the Iraqi embassy. It shows the US’s loyalty to its employees at the embassy and that the embassy’s Americans are rats when under attack as any of us (including Hegseth) would run for safety.

Why even Trump was a cowardly rat by Hegseth’s definition, a lying rat at that. According to the New York Times, Secret Service agents rushed President Donald Trump to an underground White House bunker on May 29, 2020, as protests over the murder of George Floyd intensified outside. While Trump later described the incident as a “short inspection,” reports indicated he was moved for safety during high-alert protests. Inspection of bunkers! A cowardly rat on the run! For more details, visit The New York Times (1 Sept. 2020).

Would Carr dare to cancel NYT’s licences for telling us how Trump went into hiding in White House bunkers?