Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) wrote off the SignalGate controversy as little more than a “thoughtful conversation” between members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press.
Mullin told host Kristen Welker opponents of Trump in the press and in the Democratic Party had seized on the scandal in order to score political points with nothing else to complain about.
Last week, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic reported he had been included in a group chat with numerous Trump administration officials regarding US military strikes in Yemen.
Despite pressure from Democrats and in the media, Trump has said he does not intend to dismiss anyone for discussing sensitive military information via the commercial app.
Sunday, Welker asked Mullin – who is on the Senate Armed Services Committee – if he thought the Signal chat was “appropriate.”
“Well, what this showed was an open conversation that was happening,” Mullin replied. “And I think it was a very harmful conversation. But there was no war plans that The Atlantic put out. What they did is they had a very successful attack against the Houthis.”
Mullin praised the White House for taking action before Welker dissected the situation in more detail.
“You say there was nothing classified. I’m going to show some of what Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did text out,” said Welker, reading aloud from the transcript as excerpts discussing military details were shown on screen. She then asked, “Senator, if that’s not classified information, what is?”
Mullin replied that there was “no specific information” such as locations discussed in the chat, saying it “could have been going on any place in the world” before switching the topic to President Joe Biden, as many Republicans have been doing over the last several days.
“In fact, why are we focused so much on this? Why didn’t we focus on the 13 service members that was killed in Afghanistan?” he said. “There was no outcry or anybody resigning from there.”
“But the left has completely lost their mind over a good conversation and that was a absolute successful mission, and they can’t let it go because President Trump is leading the world again,” he added.
Welker then pointedly asked Mullin if he had anything to say to service members who may feel the administration was “careless with information that could have put their loved ones’ lives at risk.”
The Oklahoma Republican fired back that military recruiting numbers under Trump “speak for themselves” and that morale is “through the roof.”
WELKER: You are, of course, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Do you think it was appropriate for President Trump’s national security team to be discussing an imminent military strike on Signal, which is a commercial app?
MULLIN: Well, what this showed was an open conversation that was happening. And I think it was a very thoughtful conversation. But there was no war plans that The Atlantic put out. What they did is they had a very successful attack against the Houthis. It’s a terrorist organization that had been harassing our Navy for – since 2023. They had attacked our Navy 174 times and the Biden administration did nothing but sit on their hands.
What the Trump administration did was take the fight directly to the Houthis. So, what this conversation should be is why didn’t the Biden administration do something the last two years instead of us being focused on this Signal chat? Which, there was no classified information given out. The conversation was a thoughtful conversation and the attack was extremely successful.
WELKER: You take me to my next question. You say there was nothing classified. I’m going to show some of what Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did text out. Here’s a little sample: “12:15 Eastern time: F-18s launch first strike package. 14:15: strike drones on target. This is when the first bombs will definitely drop pending earlier trigger-based targets. 15:56: F-18s second strike starts. Also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.” Those are specific times and weapons. And later there’s a discussion about target details. Senator, if that’s not classified information –
MULLIN: But –
WELKER: – what is?
MULLIN: But tell me where the location was at. What part of the region was it at? What part of the world was this at? We have a lot of conflicts, a lot of issues going on around the world from Africa to anywhere in the Middle East, to even in Asia or possibly through Europe.
This could have been going on any place in the world. There was no specific information except that a target was going to be hit. We have terrorist organizations coming after the United States everywhere because the Biden administration has done nothing for four years.
Instead of having peace through strength, like President Trump is leading, they try to do an appeasement. And what happened is these rogue regimes and terrorist organizations have taken advantage of it. What happened here is President Trump took the fight to our enemies, which should have happened a long time before. What is wrong with a conversation that is going in place.
WELKER: Yeah.
MULLIN: In fact, why are we focused so much on this? Why didn’t we focus on the 13 service members that was killed in Afghanistan? There was no outcry or anybody resigning from there. What about the idea when Secretary Austin went MIA for a surgery, and went completely offline. No one was talking about him resigning. But the left has completely lost their mind over a good conversation and that was a absolute successful mission, and they can’t let it go because President Trump is leading the world again.
WELKER:Senator, what’s your message to service members and their family who may feel like officials in this chain were careless with information that could have put their loved ones’ lives at risk?
MULLIN: I think the numbers speak for themselves. We’ve had record numbers of new recruits coming in the service since President Trump has taken office. The morale is through the roof because people are finally saying, “President Trump has taken the fight to our enemies rather than sitting back and apologizing and focus more on DEI than actual lethality,” which is what our service members want to do. They want to sign up for what they did, protect American rights, and go after those enemies that want to come and harm Americans.
Watch the clip above via MSNBC.
The post ‘Lost Their Minds!’ GOP Sen. Blasts Controversy Over ‘Very Thoughtful’ SignalGate Chat: ‘Why Are We Focused So Much On This?’ first appeared on Mediaite.
