The ongoing Signalgate controversy took a colorful turn yesterday when Whoopi Goldberg offered a memorable analogy on “The View.” The Oscar-winning actress compared the Trump administration’s response to the scandal to a cat desperately trying to cover up its waste in a litter box.
“Welcome to poop in the cat box,” Goldberg remarked on Thursday’s show, even pantomiming a cat shuffling in litter. “Where they are just covering up as quick as they can!”
This vivid comparison has quickly caught attention online. But what exactly is Signalgate, and why is it causing such a stir?
Understanding Signalgate
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The controversy erupted when The Atlantic published messages from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. These messages contained what many experts consider highly sensitive attack plans. The problem? Hegseth shared them in an unsecured chat group that accidentally included Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief.
Since the publication, the White House has worked to downplay the incident. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called it a “misinformation campaign” orchestrated by Democrats and the media. Meanwhile, Hegseth himself claimed “no classified information” was shared.
However, these denials face serious challenges. Jennifer Griffin, Hegseth’s former colleague at Fox News, reported that defense officials described the leaked details as “FAR MORE sensitive” than typical war plans.
The Presidential Response
President Trump has taken a notably distant approach to the scandal. When questioned by reporters on Wednesday, he deflected responsibility with a somewhat puzzling statement.
“Well, that’s what I heard,” Trump said when asked if he still believed nothing classified was shared. “I don’t know. I’m not sure. How do you bring Hegseth into it? He had nothing to do [with it].”
This response has only fueled more questions. Co-host Joy Behar compared Trump’s claim of ignorance to the character Sergeant Schultz from “Hogan’s Heroes” who was famous for saying, “I know nothing.”
A Recurring Bit
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Goldberg’s cat litter analogy wasn’t a one-off joke. She first introduced the phrase during Wednesday’s broadcast, announcing it would become a recurring bit to describe the White House’s attempts to downplay the chat group leak.
“I’m going to start calling this ‘in the cat box,’ because that’s what they’re doing,” she explained. “They’re doing what cats do. When the cat uses the cat box, the cat [shuffles] like this and tries to cover it up, you know? Covers it all up.”
Growing Concern
The hosts of “The View” raised questions about why Republican lawmakers aren’t calling for dismissals over the incident, especially given that “they love to fire people,” as Goldberg noted.
The silence from GOP leadership stands in contrast to voter sentiment. According to the report, the majority of Republican voters find Signalgate problematic, and Republicans in Congress are growing “increasingly restless” over the scandal.
“They think we’re stupid is my opinion on this,” Behar stated bluntly on the show. “They really think we’re stupid. They’re saying this is not classified information.”
As the Signalgate controversy continues to unfold, Goldberg’s colorful cat box analogy has given the public a memorable way to frame the White House’s response to what many see as a serious security breach. While the administration works to minimize the situation, the growing concern from both sides of the political aisle suggests this story is far from buried.
