Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Apologizes for Secret Hospital Visit

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin apologized on Thursday for his secret hospital visit, during which he seemingly disappeared for several days, admitting that he did not handle it well.

“We did not handle this right. I did not handle this right. I should have told the president about my cancer diagnosis,” Austin told reporters on Thursday.

“I should have also told my team and the American public, and I take full responsibility,” he added. “I apologize to my teammates and to the American people.”

As Breitbart News reported, Lloyd Austin hid his hospitalization for several days, setting off a firestorm in Washington:

Washington remained in collective shock on Sunday, as more information trickled out about Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin being admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit for days and failing to disclose it to the president, the national security adviser, members of Congress, and the public.

The disclosure raised serious questions not just for Austin and his judgment, but also for President Joe Biden and how he could have been unaware that his defense secretary was partially incapacitated for several days — especially as military confrontation between U.S. troops and Iran-backed proxy groups is heating up in the Middle East, threatening a bigger crisis.

The U.S. had just last Thursday warned Houthis to stop targeting U.S. military and commercial ships in the Red Sea, and on that same day, the U.S. military conducted a drone strike that killed an Iran-backed militia leader in Iraq — raising questions now as to who ordered that strike.

The Pentagon has also caused more confusion by not explicitly saying why the secretary of defense was admitted to the hospital out of a desire for “privacy.” Austin issued a statement on Saturday admitting that he could have done a “better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed.”

Austin told reporters on Thursday that he made a mistake not telling Biden of the diagnosis of prostate cancer, adding that he did not wish to burden him until after the hospitalization. He asserted that national security was never threatened due to his error.

“The news shook me, and I know that it shakes so many others, especially in the black community. It was a gut punch,” said Austin. “And, frankly, my first instinct was to keep it private.”

Austin said he “learned from this experience.”

“Taking this kind of job means losing some of the privacy that most of us expect,” he said. “The American people have a right to know if their leaders are facing health challenges.”

Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.