Trump Adviser Face-Plants With Head-Scratching Answer To Signal Question

Peter Navarro, Donald Trump’s top trade adviser, baffled CNN’s Kasie Hunt on Thursday after he suggested that the media previously covered Trump officials’ use of the third-party messaging app Signal “on the campaign trail.”

Navarro threw up his hands and smiled before fumbling his answer to the CNN host’s question on whether he had Signal — the app Trump officials used to discuss war plans — on his phone.

“You guys beat that story to death, I’m just watching — I remember during the campaign there was like certain stories —,” Navarro began.

Hunt interjected, “Would you ever use Signal for government business?”

Navarro swiftly hit back, “I don’t use Signal. I, I — look I, I — you beat that story to death on the campaign trail.”

On Monday, The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg first reported that he was added to the group chat, several months after the president’s election win.

Trump has downplayed the scandal this week as Republicans have deflected and dodged questions on the group chat as national security experts expressed alarm over officials’ use of the app.

On Thursday, Hunt tilted her head to the side, placed her finger to her head and appeared puzzled by Navarro’s comment.

“Wait, wait this story wasn’t on the — campaign trail,” Hunt cut in as Navarro continued to talk while she fought back laughter. “This story started on Monday.”

Navarro concluded his remarks by claiming that Americans don’t care about the group chat story.

A majority of Americans — 74% — view the Signal scandal as a “somewhat serious” problem, per a newly released YouGov poll.