Americans think Signal blunder is as big a deal as Hillary Clinton’s use of private email server: Poll

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As many as 60 percent of Republicans have said that it’s a problem that journalist Jeffery Goldberg was included in a Signal group chat alongside numerous senior administration officials as they discussed airstrikes in Yemen, a survey shows.

In a YouGov poll conducted on Tuesday, 53 percent of all respondents said it‘s a “very serious” problem that The Atlantic editor in chief was included in the conversation regarding the sensitive war plans, while 21 percent said it’s a “somewhat serious” problem.

Among Republicans, 60 percent said it was either a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” problem, according to the survey of nearly 6,000 U.S. adults. The same was true for 89 percent of Democrats and 72 percent of Independents.

Forty-eight percent of American adults said they believe that the Trump administration officials violated the law by sharing the war plans on the app. However, only 21 percent of Republicans agreed with that sentiment, compared to 76 percent of Democrats and 46 percent of independents.

Goldberg reported in The Atlantic on Monday that he was added to the group chat by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz ahead of the March 15 strikes against the Houthis in Yemen. The magazine subsequently published screenshots of the messages showing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sharing a thorough timeline of the planned attacks.

Americans view the Signal leak in as bad a light as Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her time as Secretary of State (AP)

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump claimed that the incident was “really not a big deal.” That came after he backed up Waltz on Tuesday following reports that some officials were discussing the removal of the national security adviser.

YouGov found that more Americans view the Signal leak as problematic as Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state in the Obama administration. In September 2022, 62 percent of Americans said the use of the private server was either very serious or somewhat serious. That included 40 percent of Democrats and 88 percent of Republicans.

The texts revealed by The Atlantic on Wednesday show Hegseth sharing the timing of the attacks just minutes before they occurred, including an outline of what weapons would be used and what targets would be attacked.

Waltz has taken responsibility for including Goldberg in the chat, but the administration hasn’t explained how the mistake occurred. Appearing on Fox News, Waltz said the incident was “embarrassing,” and added that Goldberg’s number was filed under another name in his phone. Trump has suggested that a lower-level staffer could be behind the mistake, but Waltz contradicted that claim during his interview on Tuesday.

Administration officials have said on numerous occasions that the information included in the chat was not classified. However, some Republican members of Congress and current and former defense officials have told media outlets such as Politico and HuffPost that the information was, or should have been, classified.

On Thursday, Trump yet again criticised U.S. District Judge James Boasberg after he was put in charge of overseeing the case of the Signal group chat. The judge was also handed the case regarding the administration’s use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants whom the administration claims are connected to the Tren de Aragua gang.

Mike Waltz has taken responsibility for adding the editor of The Atlantic to a Signal group chat (Fox News)

“How disgraceful is it that ‘Judge’ James Boasberg has just been given a fourth ‘Trump Case,’ something which is, statistically, IMPOSSIBLE,” the president wrote on Truth Social after 1 a.m. on Thursday. “There is no way for a Republican, especially a TRUMP REPUBLICAN, to win before him.”

That post came after he addressed reporters from the Oval Office, arguing that the concerns over the sharing of military plans on a messaging app are a “witch hunt.” It’s a phrase Trump has frequently used to describe the legal cases against him.

Trump claimed to be unconcerned about the leak as “there was no harm done, because the attack was unbelievably successful.”