Who among us hasn’t accidentally texted our political opponents enough sensitive information to make our lives miserable? I will leave the “war plans” vs. “attack plans” debate to the pundits who are bored enough to quibble over such things, but one thing is certain: Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, national security adviser Mike Waltz, and apparently everyone else in a position to affect U.S. foreign policy were extraordinarily reckless in using the encrypted messaging service Signal to discuss an ongoing military operation in Yemen.
Making matters worse, Waltz, presumably by accident, added the Trump administration-hating Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg to the text exchange.
To his credit, Goldberg refrained from releasing any information that could have been detrimental to the U.S. war effort until after the strikes on Yemen’s Houthis were over, but he did Forrest Gump his way into an advantageous position to attack the Republican administration, and the long-time partisan reporter is taking full advantage.
Sure, Goldberg and the Atlantic more generally have earned their “enemy of the people” status in the minds of conservatives. From the promotion of the Russiagate hoax to advocacy for all manor of liberal social policy and stalwart support of every Democrat this side of the moon, Goldberg and his ilk should be viewed with the utmost skepticism. But the journalist has the Trump administration dead to rights this time, and the White House is handling the scandal about as badly as it possibly could.
President Donald Trump’s team responded to the breaking news Monday by spinning some alternative facts. Waltz suggested that Goldberg “deliberately” hacked into the Signal chat, a claim debunked by Goldberg’s screenshot proving that Waltz himself added the journalist to the chat. The “hacked” defense was a bad idea, and it harkens back to the instances where our friends on the Left attempted to blame hackers for their sins, to embarrassing ends; just ask Joy Reid and Anthony Weiner.
Hegseth and White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt have employed the dual strategies of attacking Goldberg’s credibility and splitting hairs over the operational definition of “war plans.” The former is fair enough — leftist journalists deserve anything but the benefit of the doubt — however, that tactic was doomed to fail due to the aforementioned screenshots. The latter resembles former President Bill Clinton’s confusion over the definition of the word “is,” and it is unlikely to fool anyone born before, say, yesterday.
Republicans were quick to point out that, while embarrassing, the Signal leak did not end in catastrophe, unlike former President Joe Biden’s disastrous pullout of Afghanistan. This is true, of course. However, Trump, who made his fortune in part by firing people on television and hit the Biden regime hard over its unwillingness to fire incompetent members of the administration, has expressed support for all involved in the Signal chat. It seems accountability for government officials has become a thing of the past.
“It wasn’t classified as I understand it,” Trump told Newsmax. “It wasn’t classified information, and there was no problem, and the attack was a tremendous success.”
WHITE HOUSE DEFIANT OVER ‘SIGNAL HOAX’ IN TESTY BRIEFING
In the grand scheme of things, this mistake probably won’t matter. News cycles move quickly, and of all the foreign conflicts that America has involved itself in, Yemen likely moves the needle less than the others in the minds of most voters. However, playing it fast and loose with sensitive information, then lying about it while using talking points that wouldn’t fool a 5-year-old, feels positively Biden-esque.
If you had a problem with Biden’s refusal to reprimand former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for his negligence and are fine letting Hegseth skate without scrutiny, or if you buy the same cheap, childish lines from Leavitt when you’d claim rightfully that your intelligence was being insulted if Karine Jean-Pierre said something similar, I would suggest replacing that boot in your mouth with something that goes down a little easier. Of course, hold the food dyes.
Brady Leonard (@bradyleonard) is a musician, political strategist, and host of The No Gimmicks Podcast.
