{"id":10355,"date":"2025-12-03T10:23:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T11:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/?p=10355"},"modified":"2025-12-08T18:44:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T18:44:32","slug":"hegseth-slammed-over-cartoon-narcoterror-meme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/03\/hegseth-slammed-over-cartoon-narcoterror-meme\/","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth slammed over cartoon \u2018narcoterror\u2019 meme"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US secretary of war shared an image of Franklin the Turtle firing a bazooka at supposed drug traffickers<\/strong><\/p>\n

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has sparked a backlash after posting an image showing a popular children’s cartoon character attacking what appear to be drug traffickers. This comes as the administration of US President Donald Trump faces renewed scrutiny over lethal strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n

The meme posted by Hegseth on X is designed as a book cover featuring Franklin the Turtle standing in a helicopter clad in military gear, holding a bazooka and firing rockets at boats with armed gunmen transporting cargo. The caption in the image reads “Franklin targets narco terrorists.”<\/em> Hegseth suggested that people should add the mock book to their Christmas wish list.<\/p>\n

While some commenters expressed support for the crackdown on drug cartels, others expressed outrage over Hegseth’s meme. <\/p>\n

The publisher of the Canadian book series Kids Can Press insisted that the character Franklin stands for “kindness, empathy, and inclusivity,”<\/em> saying it “strongly condemn[s] any denigrating, violent, or unauthorized use of Franklin’s name or image.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

For your Christmas wish list\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/pLXzg20SaL<\/a><\/p>\n

— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) December 1, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Responding to the criticism, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said, “we doubt Franklin the turtle wants to be inclusive of drug cartels… or laud the kindness and empathy of narco-terrorists.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"US
Pentagon chief slams media over report of deadly Caribbean strike<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Several lawmakers have also criticized Hegseth’s post. House Democrat Adam Smith suggested that the secretary “doesn’t understand the seriousness and the importance of the job that he has.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The scandal comes as Hegseth faces accusations of war crimes after the Washington Post claimed last week that he verbally ordered US forces to “kill everybody”<\/em> on a suspected drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean in early September.<\/p>\n

Hegseth has denied the allegations and called the Washington Post’s reporting “fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory.”<\/em> He stressed that all traffickers targeted by the US were affiliated with a designated terrorist organization.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has justified its strikes on suspected drug boats as self-defense, claiming that illicit substances carried aboard the vessels are intended for delivery to the US.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The US secretary of war shared an image of Franklin the Turtle firing a bazooka at supposed drug traffickers US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has sparked a backlash after posting an image showing a popular children’s cartoon character attacking what appear to be drug traffickers. This comes as the…<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10355"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10355"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10359,"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10355\/revisions\/10359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}