A Republican’s Guide to Talking About 'Signal Gate'

It's the story everyone's talking about... but how should Republicans be talking about it?

Welp, we’re in a pickle here.

Our guys got caught up.

Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, and JD Vance (among others) were caught discussing war attack plans on a non-secure messaging app, Signal.

Even worse, unfortunately a journalist was mistakenly included in the chat:
The editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg.

Doesn’t look good… but it’s nothing we can’t mentally work our way out of.

So, let’s review a few different angles we can take here before we get backed into the corner of admitting we’re wrong:

Angle 1: Blame the Atlantic Reporter

Any breach of security is actually the fault of the reporter.

To deploy this angle, use lines like these:

• "The reporter deceived the Trump officials to get access to the chat!"

  • Take note of the exclamation point. None of this works if we argue in a calm fashion.

• "The Atlantic reporter’s contact information got sucked into the phone!"

  • Do we know what this means? No. But does it matter? Not really. Just say it with the confidence of someone who’s telling the truth.

    (@Acyn on X)

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Angle 2: Reject the Premise

You’re saying Trump officials used a non-secure group message to discuss war plans? Eh, I don’t think so.

To deploy this angle, use lines like these:

• "There was no classified info on there."

  • There was actually no classified info in those texts. Does that mean they should be shared with the House Intelligence Committee? Nope - even though there’s no classified information, there could still be important information in the texts.

• "Sometimes you need speed over gross safety!”

  • This introduces the concept "gross safety," or being too safe with classified information, and that perhaps the speed of the message should be top priority.
    
    Sound dumb? Well, think again. ‘Ol 47 himself used this one.

    (@Acyn on X)

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Angle 3: Semantics

You don’t even know what you’re talking about.

To deploy this angle, use a line like this:

• "What are ‘war plans’ anyway?"

  • Put the ball back in their court. Ask them to define it. If they so much as even stutter, you’ve won the argument. Easy.

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Angle 4: Ask to Talk About Something Else

Why do you even care about this so much? There are much more important things going on in the world right now.

To deploy this angle, use a line like this:

• “Another question please.”

  • Direct. Simple. Easy to remember.
    
    This one sound dumb, too? Well, think again. ‘Ol 47 himself used this one.

    (@Kaitlan Collins on X)

• "You’re talking like someone who doesn’t know Snow White went woke and bombed this weekend."

  • A sentence so discombobulating to all those outside our sphere, it’ll cause some to physically stumble backwards.

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With this guide, I hope you now feel empowered with the tools and confidence to work your way through any Signal-related conversation.

Remember, we made past January 6th. We can make it past this one too.