US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has provoked outrage by using a beloved children's book character to seemingly make light of lethal military operations and potential war crimes. The incident has drawn a fierce rebuke from the character's Canadian publisher and intensified scrutiny over controversial US airstrikes in the Caribbean.
Publisher Condemns 'Violent' Misuse of Beloved Icon
Toronto-based Kids Can Press said it was stunned and appalled to discover that Hegseth had used its iconic character, Franklin the Turtle, in a social media post. The Defence Secretary's meme, posted on his personal X account late on Sunday, depicted Franklin in US combat gear firing a rocket launcher from a helicopter at a drug boat below.
The mock book cover was titled 'A Classic Franklin Story: Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists' and was captioned 'For your Christmas wish list…'. In a strong statement issued on Monday, the publisher said: 'Franklin the Turtle is a beloved Canadian icon who has inspired generations of children and stands for kindness, empathy, and inclusivity.' It condemned any unauthorised and violent use of Franklin's image as a direct contradiction of these values.
Meme Follows Allegations of Unlawful Strikes
Hegseth's provocative post came in direct response to a damning Washington Post report published on Friday. The report alleged that on September 2, Hegseth ordered a follow-up military strike on survivors clinging to the burning wreck of an alleged drug-smuggling boat off the coast of Trinidad.
One source with direct knowledge described the verbal order as: 'The order was to kill everybody.' The report cited current and former US officials and law-of-war experts who called the Pentagon's lethal airstrikes unlawful and warned they 'may expose those most directly involved to future prosecution' for war crimes.
These strikes are part of Operation Southern Spear, overseen by US Southern Command, which Hegseth tagged in his post. Since September, more than 80 people have been killed in at least a dozen such attacks. The US government claims the targets are vessels of designated 'narco-terrorist' groups, including Colombia's National Liberation Army and Venezuela's Tren de Aragua, though it has provided no public evidence.
Political Fallout and Online Mockery
The Defence Secretary's flippant online tone about operations with serious legal and ethical implications has sparked significant backlash. Lawmakers from both major US political parties have called for Congressional investigations into the airstrikes and the potential war crimes associated with them.
Online, critics swiftly mocked Hegseth with their own AI-generated Franklin book covers, with titles such as:
- 'Franklin Goes to the Hague'
- 'Franklin Goes to Jail'
- 'Franklin Is A War Criminal'
California Governor Gavin Newsom's office joined in, posting a mock cover from the Little Critter series titled 'Just Go To Prison, Pete'. Commentators like Sarah Longwell of The Bulwark questioned the seriousness of the situation, asking on X if the US would 'let a person meme and s**tpost his way out of accountability for alleged war crimes'.
This is not Hegseth's first brush with copyright issues; earlier this year, the Pentagon used Metallica's 'Enter Sandman' in a promotional video without the band's authorisation. Neither Paulette Bourgeois, the author of the Franklin books, nor Brenda Clark, the main illustrator, could be reached for comment on the defence secretary's post.
