Democrats and the media have latched onto what they characterize as the first major scandal for President Donald Trump's administration, in which an anti-Trump journalist was somehow invited into a high-level group chat earlier this month about impending military strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

National Security Advisor Michael Waltz admitted on Tuesday his "full responsibility" for the "embarrassing" mistake that resulted in claims that "classified" info and "war plans" had been inadvertently exposed, according to the New York Post.

Some Democrats and media pundits have demanded that Waltz and some other officials in the chat group either resign or be fired, but the White House has downplayed the alleged severity of what occurred, and Trump has indicated that he retains full confidence in Waltz.

Anti-Trump journalist inadvertently invited to high-level discussion

On Monday, The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg revealed that he'd been invited by NSA Waltz to participate in a group chat earlier this month on the encrypted messaging app Signal with around a dozen other high-level administration officials to discuss imminent airstrikes against Houthi terrorists in Yemen to reopen vital sea lanes that had been targeted for attacks for more than year.

Goldberg, as readers may recall, has substantial credibility issues due to his repeated lies and fabrications in the past about President Trump, yet nearly all Democrats, much of the mainstream media, and even some Republicans pounced on the obvious "gotcha" story as though it were gospel truth evidence of the current administration's incompetence.

Due to Goldberg's claims that "classified" information and detailed "war plans" were openly discussed in the group chat, an immediate chorus arose to demand the resignations or firings of Waltz, Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, and others who were involved in the conversation.

A follow-up report on Wednesday, which The Atlantic likely assumed would support the narrative, included screenshots of the full discussion, and while Hegseth did reveal supposed "attack plans" to the group, in the form of outlining waves of attacks with F-18s and armed drones, there were no dates or target information or anything that might be classified or prove dangerous to the mission -- which was later went off without a hitch and was deemed a huge success.

Waltz trashes Goldberg but accepts "full responsibility" for mistaken invite

On Tuesday, NSA Waltz appeared on Fox News to be grilled by host Laura Ingraham about exactly what occurred, which he used as an opportunity to defend himself and explain what he knew of the mistake that occurred after first launching a justifiable attack on Goldberg's lack of credibility.

"I’m not a conspiracy theorist," Waltz said, "but of all the people out there, somehow this guy who has lied about the president, who has lied to Gold Star families, lied to their attorneys, and gone to -- Russia hoax, gone to just all kinds of lengths to lie and smear the president of the United States, and he’s the one that somehow gets on somebody’s contact and then gets sucked into this group."

He explained that Goldberg's phone number had somehow gotten mixed up with another individual's contact information on the government phone he was provided, acknowledged that the mishap was "embarrassing," and intimated that what happened was being investigated by the "best technical minds" in the government.

"But I can tell you for 100% -- I don’t know this guy. I know him by his horrible reputation. And he really is the bottom scum of journalists," Waltz said, and later proceeded to described Goldberg as "vile" and a dishonest "loser" who never would have knowingly been included in the discussion.

Ingraham referenced rumors that perhaps a "rogue" staffer had surreptitiously invited Goldberg to the group chat to cause trouble for the administration, but NSA Waltz nipped that theory in the bud and asserted, "Look, a staffer wasn’t responsible. I take full responsibility. I built the group. My job is to make sure everything’s coordinated."

Trump not worried about Waltz's mistake

NBC News reported that President Trump, when asked about the purported security breach, defended his national security advisor and said, "Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man."

"It was one of Michael’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there," he continued, and further stated that Goldberg's accidental inclusion in the conversation had "no impact at all" on the operation, and added that this unfortunate incident was "the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one."