Hegseth’s Post Draws Rebuke from Publisher

“The publisher of Franklin the Turtle, a Canadian book franchise aimed at preschoolers, has expressed criticism after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared to make light of deadly boat strikes in Latin America by posting a doctored image that showed the well-known turtle character attacking the crew of a narcotics vessel,” the Washington Post reports.

“In a post on X over the weekend, Hegseth shared an image of a doctored book cover, titled ‘Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists,’ that depicted the primary-school-aged turtle firing a rocket-propelled grenade at apparent drug traffickers.”