During a heated segment on CNN, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) tried to defend Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from growing criticism over his use of an unsecured messaging app to discuss military operations. But network host Sara Sidner quickly tore through his excuses.
Donalds brushed off serious concerns, saying, “Pete has been on the job, what, six weeks now, just about?” He argued Hegseth was simply clearing out old staffers and figuring things out. “This happens all the time,” he claimed.
Things escalated when Donalds tried to downplay a bombshell report: a key defense memo reportedly sat unsigned for three weeks because no one could get in touch with Hegseth or his chief of staff. Instead of addressing that, Donalds pivoted to criticize Biden’s former defense secretary Lloyd Austin for not immediately telling the president he was hospitalized earlier this year.
Sidner wasn’t having it.
“This is not even the same type of story,” she shot back as Donalds tried to talk over her. “So you think that…going to the hospital for treatment, not telling the president…is an equal thing to somebody who is giving out information to his wife who does not have a security clearance, to his lawyer, to his brother on a personal cell phone, in on a Signal chat?”
Donalds denied making that comparison.
“You just did!” Sidner snapped.
She kept pressing: “Some of these are not allegations. Some of these are coming from his own former press secretary…Are you okay with him using Signal to talk about war plans…with his circle and a reporter…and with his own family members?”
Donalds tried to spin again, calling it “Signalgate number one” and accusing others in the White House of doing the same thing. He insisted Hegseth was doing a solid job: “Recruitment is up. We were hemorrhaging soldiers…under the previous administration.”
That’s false. Military records show recruiting began improving under Biden, helped by programs launched during his term, according to a Washington Post fact check.
Still, Donalds kept repeating himself. “Pete Hegseth has done his job,” he said again, ignoring the ongoing scandal and reports of dysfunction in the Pentagon under Hegseth’s watch.
Sidner wasn’t buying it—and didn’t let it slide.
Watch the full exchange below:
