'Delusional, incompetent’: Hegseth rebuked for trivializing US soldiers’ ordeal aboard USS Lincon

US War Secretary Pete Hegseth has faced fierce backlash online after dismissing reports of dire conditions and mounting distress aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, as criticism grows over the warship’s prolonged deployment in the United States’ war of aggression against Iran.

Hegseth said Thursday that reports about conditions aboard the carrier had been “completely misrepresented,” while offering no details about reported shortages of food and basic supplies, deteriorating hygiene, mental-health concerns, or the ship’s prolonged deployment.

Speaking to Newsmax, President Donald Trump’s war secretary claimed that the US military ensures that “every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment,” describing the sailors’ deployment to West Asia as “incredible.”

Hegseth’s controversial remarks have triggered a wave of criticism on X, with lawmakers and commentators condemning him for downplaying the difficulties faced by US service members and calling for congressional investigations into the conditions aboard the carrier.

Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari called Hegseth’s response “absolutely unacceptable,” saying he and other Trump administration officials had repeatedly put US service members “in grave danger.”

“Incompetent Trump officials like Pete Hegseth have repeatedly put American service members in grave danger,” she wrote.

Ansari said she had introduced Articles of Impeachment against Hegseth and urged other lawmakers to hold him accountable.

Retired Brigadier General Shawn Harris said Hegseth had failed both the American people and US service members by pushing the country into an “unnecessary war of choice with Iran.”

“His reckless decisions have severely compromised our military readiness and damaged our standing on the global stage,” Harris said, calling on Trump to remove Hegseth.

Other reactions focused on the deteriorating living conditions aboard the Abraham Lincoln, including shortages of food and basic supplies, hygiene problems and mounting mental-health concerns, as well as the unusually long deployment that has kept the crew at sea for months.

Musician Bill Madden said reports concerning the USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Benfold, USS George H.W. Bush and USS Tripoli showed US sailors were being pushed into “exhaustion and despair.”

Madden cited reports of shortages of food and hygiene supplies, malfunctioning toilets, mold, laundry problems and deteriorating mental health, saying, “This isn't ‘austere conditions.’”

“It's leadership failure and logistical neglect while the mission keeps getting extended with no accountability.”

Filmmaker Morgan J. Freeman also called for congressional scrutiny, saying the aircraft carrier had been deployed for more than 260 days and that thousands of sailors and Marines were paying the “human price” of the illegal war against Iran.

“Pete Hegseth doesn't need another TV interview. He needs a congressional hearing,” he wrote.

American lawmaker Mike Levin challenged Trump and Hegseth’s repeated claims that the US had won the war against Iran, saying the administration should either bring service members home or stop claiming victory.

“You can’t keep claiming victory and keep the war going at the same time. Our service members deserve the truth,” he wrote.

Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed said US service members “deserve so much better,” adding that he would seek an investigation into Hegseth if elected to the US Senate.

The office of California Governor Gavin Newsom took an even more pointed approach, describing Hegseth as “delusional, manic, agitated” and questioning whether he had undergone a drug test.

Meanwhile, an independent journalist said the mother of a sailor aboard the USS Tripoli expected further revelations about the treatment of US service members unless the problems were addressed quickly.

The criticism comes after reports of serious unrest aboard the Abraham Lincoln, including reports that sailors had attempted to jump overboard amid mounting concerns over their mental health.

The reports prompted Senator Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, to express “serious concerns” over the carrier’s extended deployment.

He said the Abraham Lincoln was not an isolated case and warned that unusually long carrier deployments appeared to be becoming increasingly common.

Senator Ruben Gallego has also called for an official bipartisan congressional visit to the carrier to examine conditions aboard the ship.

The Abraham Lincoln has roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard and has spent more than 250 consecutive days at sea, including more than 40 days of continuous combat operations, according to reports.

The carrier left San Diego in November for a Pacific deployment but was redirected to West Asia in January. It was originally expected to return in May, but no publicly announced return date has been given.

Iran’s Tasnim News Agency cited an informed military source earlier this week as saying that seven US Navy personnel were killed and several others wounded in a violent confrontation aboard the warship.

Deadly clash aboard US carrier Abraham Lincoln leaves seven dead, several injured: Report

Seven sailors were killed and several others wounded in a deadly confrontation among crew members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

According to the report, the incident followed protests by military families over the carrier’s prolonged deployment and occurred after an adviser to US Central Command chief Brad Cooper boarded the vessel to address crew members' complaints.

The adviser was reportedly met with boos and had water bottles thrown at him before the confrontation escalated into a fight among crew members involving knives and other bladed weapons, according to the source.

The reported deaths aboard the Abraham Lincoln follow another serious incident involving the USS Gerald R. Ford. On March 12, 2026, a fire broke out in the living quarters housing around 600 crew members, injuring 200 personnel.

The Gerald R. Ford subsequently took the injured to a naval facility on the Greek island of Crete before being forced to return to the United States.

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