CNBC's Joe Kernen Just Levels Chris Coons Over Dem Calls for Pete Hegseth to Resign Over Signal Issue

The Democrat/media hyperventilating over what some are referring to as Signalgate has reached a fever pitch, with the Usual Suspects thinking they have their "gotcha" moment against the Trump administration and using it to try and stoke division and discord among Republicans.

The problem for the left with that tactic, though, is that prominent figures on the right on up to President Trump himself, are refusing to play along while reminding their critics that they have absolutely zero standing to lecture anyone about alleged poor leadership qualities and allegedly putting the lives of American service members at risk after the much worse things they turned a blind eye to under the Biden-Harris adminstration.

As we reported, GOP political strategist Scott Jennings was among them, blasting his CNN co-panelists Thursday during a heated discussion on the matter, telling them, "I mean, the bar for getting rid of a Secretary of Defense is apparently pretty high. You can get 13 people killed, and go AWOL and not tell the Commander in Chief, and that's not a fireable offense" according to Democrats.

Meanwhile, CNBC Squawk Box co-host Joe Kernen hasn't been pulling any punches, either, absolutely unloading on Biden apologist and Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) during a Friday segment where not only did he repeatedly have to press Coons for comment on the Afghanistan debacle (which he of course tried to pin on Trump) and why he never called on then-Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin to resign, but also dismissed "whataboutism" accusations, correctly observing that "The point is you’re going to complain about a splinter in one eye and ignore a 2x4 in the other eye."

Here are some snippets, but please make sure to watch the full three-minute exchange below:

Kernen: “Did you call for Lloyd Austin’s resignation? Not only did we lose 13 service members, we left $70 billion worth of equipment that fell into the hands of the Taliban.”
“Couple of years later, he was out of pocket for two weeks and didn’t tell the White House. Did you ask for him to resign at this point?”
Coons: “The fact the Secretary of Defense was getting healthcare is fundamentally different from the Secretary of Defense sharing on an unsecured platform attack plans.”
Kernen: “The point is you’re going to complain about a splinter in one eye and ignore a 2x4 in the other eye.”

Watch:

CNBC Squawk Box host Joe Kernen eviscerates Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) on live TV: “Did you call for Lloyd Austin’s resignation? Not only did we lose 13 service members, we left $70 billion worth of equipment that fell into the hands of the Taliban.”

“Couple of years later, he… pic.twitter.com/iSf34CQ23L
— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) March 28, 2025

Kernen also had a similar exchange with Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) on Wednesday:

🚨CNBC’s Joe Kernen reminds a hyperventilating Mark Warner of the Biden admin record:

"You remember the Biden administration started with the biggest F up in history with Afghanistan and 13 dead Americans. Let's not get too sanctimonious and high and mighty about screwing up."… pic.twitter.com/HXFS6afntc
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) March 26, 2025

Let us also not forget that the lack of accountability over the deadly Afghanistan withdrawal among Democrats was so acute that they did everything they could to drag then-Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris over the finish line despite the fact that we were reliably informed by both Biden and Harris and their allies that she was a central figure in the decision-making process, the "last person in the room" in her role as Joe Biden's second in command as the Afghanistan decision was made.

So, while there are indeed important lessons to be learned in the aftermath of the Signal chat situation, we'll take lessons from Democrats on national security matters and foreign policy discussions on like the 12th of Never, thank you very much.

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