Democrats are using the Trump administration’s accidental leak of intelligence to a journalist on the Signal platform to fundraise.
Several Democratic senators, including Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), have attempted to use the debacle to illustrate a lack of Republican control over national security.
Kelly and Gallego said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should resign over the scandal and called for their supporters to back them.
“Pete Hegseth was unqualified for the job of Secretary of Defense from the start,” a fundraising page for Kelly says. “But after the Signal incident, we can no longer entrust the lives of our service members to him. Mark is demanding that Pete Hegseth resign. Add your name if you agree.”
Kelly is a former astronaut and Navy officer and serves on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Kelly’s campaign also sent texts to supporters with much of the same messaging: “The Signal incident is what happens when you have the most unqualified Secretary of Defense we’ve ever seen. He needs to resign.”
Gallego had a fundraising email of his own with the subject line “Hegseth. Resign. Immediately.”
“This is amateur hour. We’re damn lucky the pilots on that mission and the sailors and Marines on ships offshore didn’t make the ultimate sacrifice that day. The Trump Administration’s carelessness and incompetence put their lives at risk,” the email said in part.
“These people are not serious, and we need to clear house,” it continued, saying, “We’ve got to start with the Secretary of Defense. He was unqualified and unprepared for this job to start, and it was him who sent detailed war plans over unsecured channels to begin with.”
Both landing pages asked people if they were able to make a monetary donation.
Gillibrand’s email shared the Atlantic article that revealed journalist Jeffrey Goldberg’s inadvertent entry into the Signal chat and asked supporters, “Do you feel safe under the Trump administration?” The New York senator said “Signalgate” was one of the “most egregious and dangerous actions yet.”
PRIVATE DATA OF TOP US OFFICIALS INCLUDING HEGSETH AND WALTZ FOUND ONLINE
None of the three voted to confirm Hegseth as defense secretary.
In addition to Hegseth, the Signal chat included national security adviser Mike Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Waltz has claimed responsibility for adding Goldberg, though he said it was inadvertent.
