The radical Left has a knack for embarrassing themselves. It’s one of the only things they do well.
And this Democrat Senator got completely humiliated during a live TV interview.
Senator Coons Faces Tough Questions Over Selective Criticism of Defense Officials
During an exchange on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” last Friday, Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) found himself in the hot seat, pressed hard by co-host Joe Kernen on what some are calling a glaring double standard.
The Delaware senator has been vocal in demanding the resignations of Trump-appointed defense officials—Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz—over their use of a Signal chat group. Yet, when it came to major missteps under Biden’s Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Coons has remained conspicuously silent.
The interview kicked off with Kernen zeroing in on this apparent inconsistency. “Did you call for Lloyd Austin’s resignation?” he asked pointedly. “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.”
Kernen didn’t let up, doubling down: “Did you ask for him to resign at this point? Are you actually asking for Hegseth and Waltz to resign when you didn’t ask for Lloyd Austin?”
Coons tried to sidestep the heat, arguing that Austin’s unreported hospitalization and cancer surgery didn’t jeopardize national security. But Kernen wasn’t buying it.
“What about Afghanistan? What about Afghanistan?” he interjected, bringing up the chaotic 2021 withdrawal that left many questioning the administration’s competence. “Did you guys forget that? Is the statute of limitations over for 4 years?”
Instead of tackling the question head-on, Coons pivoted to Austin’s health, steering clear of the Afghanistan debacle. Kernen, however, kept the pressure on, reminding viewers that Coons had once painted Biden’s messy withdrawal as a triumph. “Afghanistan was not a success,” Kernen shot back, dismantling the senator’s rosy narrative.
Coons then shifted gears again, this time to the Houthis, as if to dodge the mounting scrutiny. “I am not saying that the attack on the Houthis was not a success,” he said, before circling back to his original gripe:
“I am saying that he demonstrably violated a directive that was just shared in the Pentagon about don’t use Signal for classified information, it is not reliably secure. And one of the folks on that group chat was in Russia at the time that that information being — look, all of us use apps like WhatsApp and Signal.”
Kernen wasn’t having it. “You’re running out the clock on Afghanistan,” he quipped, calling out the senator’s evasive tactics. Undeterred, Coons took a new tack, pinning the blame for Biden’s Afghanistan blunder on President Donald Trump.
Even as he conceded that actions under Biden’s watch were “badly handled,” he stopped short of holding Austin accountable.
When Kernen pressed one last time—should Coons have demanded Austin’s resignation over the fiasco?—the senator hedged. “I don’t know whether Lloyd Austin is the person who should have been held accountable for it, but there should have been accountability,” he said, leaving the question dangling.
The tense back-and-forth has sparked fresh debate about consistency in political accountability, with Coons’ critics arguing he’s quick to pounce on Trump allies while giving Biden’s team a free pass.
For now, the senator’s deflections have only fueled the fire.
You can watch Coon’s comments in the video below:
Joe Kernen destroys Senator Chris Coons over the Signal hoax:
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) March 28, 2025
“Did you call for Lloyd Austin’s resignation? Not only did we lose 13 service members, we left $70B worth of equipment… He was [under anesthesia] and didn’t tell the White House. Did you ask for him to resign?” pic.twitter.com/Gwb3NUh756
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