During an appearance on CNN with anchor Erin Burnett, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) accused War Secretary Pete Hegseth of committing war crimes — and even invoked the execution of Nazi war criminals as a warning.
Burnett played a clip of Moulton hectoring Hegseth at a congressional hearing over his "no quarter, no mercy" remarks, attempting to twist the secretary's words into an admission of war crimes.
When Burnett asked directly whether he believed Hegseth was guilty of war crimes, Moulton answered without hesitation. "Absolutely," he said, pointing to military operations targeting boats in the Caribbean. "It's very unclear that we actually have any confirmation that these so-called narcoterrorists — a term the administration invented to justify this action — are even on the boats. In fact, there's a lot of evidence that these are just fishermen, you know, getting jobs, piloting these boats, trying to feed their families."
None of that is true, by the way.
Moulton also raised what he described as a deliberate "double tap" strike. "We then have the strike where they came back in and hit it again — a double tap, just purely to kill these survivors who were clinging to wreckage," he said.
The Massachusetts Democrat then drew a direct historical parallel to the Nuremberg era. "Another historical analogy — back in World War II, the Allies tried Nazi submarine captains for doing this exact same thing. And guess what the conclusion was? They got executed. Listen to that, Mr. Secretary."
Less than a week after an assassin tried to kill the President and the War Secretary, Democrat Rep. Seth Moulton says Pete Hegseth should be executed:
— Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) April 30, 2026
Erin Burnett: "Do you believe that the Secretary of Defense is guilty of war crimes?"
Moulton: "Absolutely. I mean, he's… pic.twitter.com/XYMyGDZQww
The implication was clear. As far as Moulton is concerned, Hegseth is no different from a Nazi war criminal and should be executed.
The exchange drew immediate attention the following night on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, where conservative commentator Scott Jennings weighed in on Moulton's remarks.
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"I saw Seth Moulton, a Democrat member of Congress, on our air last night suggesting that he needed to be executed for war crimes," Jennings said. He acknowledged that it was "his point of view" but pointed out it was damaging for Democrats to go on television and suggest that "somehow Iran's military or their position is strengthened or in better shape" after what he described as a successful several-week U.S. military campaign. "There is a lot of rhetorical volleying going on here," Jennings added, saying he gives Hegseth "a little latitude on that because he's taken a fair amount of incoming."
Still, Jennings was clear that Hegseth's job is to defend the institution he leads. "He runs the military. He's there to defend the military," he said. "And I don't think you could argue with a straight face anything other than they have performed brilliantly."
Cooper, however, appeared caught off guard by the characterization of Moulton's comments. "I didn't hear Moulton last night, but I don't think he said he was," the anchor pushed back.
Jennings didn't back down. "He did," he replied flatly. "He said it to Erin Burnett."
🚨 NOW: Scott Jennings CALLS OUT Democrat Rep. Seth Moulton for suggesting SecWar Pete Hegseth needs to be "executed" for "WAR CRIMES"
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 1, 2026
Even Anderson Cooper didn't believe Moulton said that on CNN — BUT HE DID, ROLL THE TAPE!
"I saw Seth Moulton...suggest [Hegseth] needed to be… pic.twitter.com/El5OSIvTXo
It's hilarious that Cooper pretended like he had no idea. But he did say it, and it was dangerous.
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