More Republican voters think that Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, should resign than those who think he should remain in his job, according to a poll conducted after he and other Trump administration officials shared sensitive military attack plans with a journalist who was accidentally added to a message group chat.
Hegseth outlined details of a US airstrike in Yemen in a Signal group chat that included Donald Trump’s vice-president, JD Vance, as well as his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, who mistakenly added Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, to the chat.
A firestorm of controversy over the error, revealed after the Atlantic published details of the chat on 24 March, has led to calls for those involved to resign.
This appears to have affected the perception of Hegseth – an army national guard veteran and former Fox News TV host – among voters, including Republicans. A new poll found that 54% of all registered voters think Hegseth should leave his role as head of the Pentagon, with 22% believing he should remain and 24% not sure.
A total of 38% of Republican voters agree that Hegseth should quit, compared to just a third who think he should retain his job. A majority of independents, at 54%, also think he should resign, according to the poll, which was released on Friday and conducted by JL Partners on behalf of the Daily Mail.
The blundering group chat discussed the merits and deadly outcome of an air attack upon Houthi rebels in Yemen, as well as embarrassingly disparaging remarks about Europe by Vance and Hegseth.
Trump has so far declined to fire any of those involved, with the president dismissing it as a “glitch” and instead attacking Goldberg. Waltz, meanwhile, said that Goldberg’s number was somehow “sucked in” to his phone and added to the Signal group chat.
Goldberg has rejected this explanation. “I don’t know what he’s talking about there,” the journalist told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday. Referring to a science fiction movie about humans unknowingly living in a simulated reality, Goldberg said: “This isn’t ‘The Matrix’. Phone numbers don’t just get sucked into other phones.
“You know, very frequently in journalism, the most obvious explanation is the explanation. My phone number was in his phone because my phone number is in his phone.”
The Signal group chat controversy follows a difficult start to the Trump administration for many of the president’s cabinet picks, who faced criticism from Democrats over their lack of experience or extreme views.
Polling conducted before this latest controversy showed that a majority of American voters are disappointed with Trump’s cabinet members, registering a record level of dissatisfaction in the last four presidential administrations in which NBC has taken such polling.
Read the full article here
