‘Wrong is wrong’: MAGA influencer reaps bipartisan praise for ripping Trump war plans leak

An influential podcaster and media personality who has personally interviewed President Donald Trump and endorsed him multiple times is now calling out the Trump administration over its accidental leak of classified war plans.In a video posted to his X account on Wednesday, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy directly condemned Trump Cabinet officials over what he characterized as a “f—up of epic proportions.” He noted that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz was to blame after he inadvertently invited Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a group chat on the messaging app Signal with other top administration officials like Vice President JD Vance, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, among others. The chat included highly sensitive details about airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen, including weapons systems, times of attacks and who was being targeted.”It’s obvious these texts are classified. We are lucky it didn’t cause the death of American military members,” Portnoy said. “Somebody has to go down for this.”READ MORE: ‘Embarrassing’: House Oversight chair mocked after NPR president corrects him on basic journalismPortnoy was celebrated by people on both sides of the political aisle for his comments. Pete Buttigieg, who served as former President Joe Biden’s secretary of transportation, tweeted: “Dave is right on this. It’s not a left or right thing. This was a massive screwup and a real security failure.” University of Central Florida football coach Ben Larson agreed, writing: “Right is right. Wrong is wrong. Lying is lying. ALL of our leaders need to be better examples. We teach our kids to be accountable, so why wouldn’t we hold our leaders to the same standard?””I cannot believe that I’m retweeting Dave Portnoy … but what he’s saying is what we need more of,” tweeted former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson. “People on both sides telling the truth & owning up to it when mistakes are made.”Others remarked that Portnoy’s video is a sign that Democrats can and should try to reach out to and make connections with Trump supporters on common-sense issues like national security. Delaney Corcoran, who is the deputy communications director for Arizona Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes, argued that the fact that an ardent Trump supporter like Portnoy is calling out the administration “shows that for the first time in a while criticism of Trump and his administration is actually breaking through to the people Dems need to reach.” Sen. Chris Murphy’s (D-Conn.) outreach director, Mike Fallon, asserted that Portnoy’s video was a sign that Trump’s team has “lost confidence in bro world.” And Business Insider chief correspondent Peter Kafka remarked that the Signal debacle was “a rare Trump 2.0 scandal that has broken through to Trump supporters.”Portnoy was one of Trump’s earliest supporters, with the sports commentator giving his endorsement in 2015, before the first Republican primary votes had been cast. He interviewed Trump at the White House in 2020, and called Trump “the perfect guy for the job” in a January 2024 interview on Fox News. He has a significant platform, with 3.6 million followers on X and 5.5 million on Instagram.READ MORE: ‘Like a bunch of teenagers’: Dem rep suggests Hegseth shared war plans to feel ‘important’

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