Gavin Newsom Trolls Pete Hegseth Hard For Trying To Meme Drug Boat Bombing Scandal

After Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made light of his deadly attacks on alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean by turning the scandal into a meme featuring Franklin the Turtle, California Governor Gavin Newsom memed him right back to stress that the bombing of these boats constitutes a war crime.

Hegseth's original meme, which he inexplicably captioned "for your Christmas wish list," features a doctored book cover titled Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists and shows Franklin, the protagonist of the popular Canadian children's book series authored by Paulette Bourgeois and illustrated by Brenda Clark, firing a bazooka from a helicopter at boats in the water below.

You can see it below.

@PeteHegseth/X

Newsom responded with a doctored book title called Just Go to Prison, Pete.

@GovPressOffice/X

Other social media users have responded to Hegseth's meme with book "titles" as varied as Franklin Goes to the Hague, Franklin is Prosecuted for Murder and War Crimes on the High Seas, Franklin Learns About LOAC, Franklin Goes to Jail, and Franklin: On Trial at the War Crimes Tribunal.

@chessclubgringo/X

@oelayat/X

@PlowOn/X

@Azgal43026529/X

@chessclubgringo/X

People have also harshly criticized Hegseth.

Hegseth’s initial post followed a Washington Post investigation published last week alleging that in September he directed a U.S. strike unit to eliminate everyone aboard a single vessel. According to the report, after two people were later spotted alive in the wreckage, commanders authorized a follow-up “double tap” strike to ensure their deaths.

In the aftermath of that initial strike, the Trump administration formally informed Congress that the United States was engaged in what it called a “non-international armed conflict” with unnamed “designated terrorist organizations.”

That position was reinforced by a legal opinion from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, which argued that because the U.S. was operating within an armed conflict, military personnel carrying out strikes in compliance with the laws of war would be shielded from criminal prosecution.

Since the first strike, U.S. forces have carried out at least 22 additional attacks on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, including one semisubmersible vessel. According to officials and internal Pentagon records reviewed by The Washington Post, those operations have resulted in the deaths of 71 people accused of drug trafficking.