Democrats call out DEI ‘irony’ amid Trump administration’s controversy on Signal

“Maybe we need some DEI (definitely earned it) hires to get this [s__t] together,” said U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas.
The Trump administration is being ridiculed for its focus on eliminating DEI as it struggles to explain away what is likely a national security threat after a journalist received texts on the Signal messaging app from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about an imminent military attack on an American target in Yemen.
On Monday, Jeffrey Goldsberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, revealed that two hours before U.S. military fired missiles at the Iran-backed rebels group known as the Houthis, he received messages from Hegseth in a group chat with senior-level administration officials, including cabinet members, that the attack was upcoming.
Since the news broke, Democratic lawmakers have expressed outrage over the risk of sensitive and potentially classified information being shared on an unsecured communications platform. Some Democrats have also used the controversy to point out what they see as irony from an administration that has blamed government failures on diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
“The irony of it,” said U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., during an interview on MSNBC with Jonathan Capehart on Tuesday. “This guy who’s firing the previous Joint Chiefs of Staff because of DEI, getting rid of people who are Black or women because they may not be qualified,” he said of Hegseth, who, by the direction of President Donald Trump, fired Charles “CQ” Brown Jr. as chairman of the nation’s most senior military body. Brown, appointed by President Joe Biden last year, was only the second Black American in U.S. history to hold the position.
Since he was sworn in as Defense secretary, Hegseth has taken action to eliminate DEI policies throughout the U.S. military in place for what he and the Trump administration says is “merit” based.
“Guess what? He turns out to be the most incompetent, unqualified person there,” Khanna said of Hegseth. The congressman continued, “I want to start talking about merit in this country and how Donald Trump has appointed the least meritorious people to these jobs and how people in the Biden administration actually served with distinction. That’s the real merit conversation.”
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, similarly called out the perceived shortcomings of Secretary Hegseth, including his past abuse of alcohol.
“Soooooo we thinking old Pete was drunk or [sic] the job or what? It would be funny, if it wasn’t scary!” Crockett wrote on social media. “Maybe we need some DEI (definitely earned it) hires to get this [s__t] together because the incompetence is OVERWHELMINGLY problematic & if you don’t believe me, just pretend it was Biden or better yet Obama that did this… what would you say then?!”
Jaime Harrison, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, similarly wrote on X, “Amazing how all this damn projection about DEI comes from people who are criminally unqualified and incompetent!”
During his first week in office, President Trump blamed the deadly passenger plane-helicopter crash in Washington, D.C., on DEI policies at the Federal Aviation Administration.
“We have to have our smartest people,” Trump said at the time. “It doesn’t matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are. … They have to be talented, naturally talented. Geniuses.” He added, “We can’t have regular people doing this job. They won’t be able to do it, but we’ll restore faith…”
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