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Senior military officials condemned Tucker Carlson’s viral comments on his show about women in uniform. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Thursday Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin shared the “loathing” many senior leaders have expressed over the monologue.
Carlson said on his Tuesday show that the new grooming standards and inclusive military uniforms for women made fun of the US military. In a monologue, Carlson said that the Chinese military has become “more masculine”, while “our army must become, as Joe Biden puts it, more feminine”.
On Monday, International Women’s Day, President Joe Biden introduced the nominees to the Fighter Commands who would be the second and third women to lead the Fighter Commands. He spoke about measures taken by the military, such as updating grooming standards, such as allowing short ponytails, to make the environment for all forces more inclusive.
Carlson called these measures “a mockery of the US military.”
Kirby said Thursday that “what we absolutely will not do is take the advice of the staff of a talk show host or the Chinese military.”
Kirby was asked if Carlson should apologize, and Kirby said he hopes Carlson realizes the mistake he made in the comments which “essentially demeaned the entire U.S. military and how we let’s defend and serve this country. ”
Carlson responded with a nine-minute monologue Thursday night, saying “the Defense Department has launched a large, coordinated public relations offensive against this show.”
“Since when has the Pentagon declared war on a national information operation? I don’t remember that ever happening,” Carlson said.
Other senior U.S. military officials weighed in on Carlson’s comments on Thursday. In a viral clip, U.S. Marine Corps Senior Artillery Sgt Scott Stalker, the Senior Enlisted Chief of US Space Command, said Carlson’s opinion was “actually based on zero day in the armed forces “. He also called on the military to “go back to work” and said: “let us remember that these opinions were expressed by an individual who has never served a single day in his life”.
“Let me give you my opinion, my opinion is based on 28 years of actual service in the military, 28 years in the Marine Corps and combat operations at sea and at Garrison,” he said. . “And so he was specifically talking about pregnant women in the military today and how that makes us less lethal, less fit and less ready. Let me tell you where he is wrong. These decisions were made by medical professionals, by commanders and our civilians. a leadership that allows women to spend more time with their children, to recover, to get back in shape and to prepare, to take the necessary time that our health professionals know is necessary, which makes us a stronger force murderous and ready and fit. Ready to adapt to the wars of today and tomorrow. ”
On Twitter, the U.S. military did not respond directly to Carlson’s comments, but posted an image of a woman in uniform with the caption “I am an American soldier. I will never accept defeat. I will never give up.”
Many female veterans responded to Carlson’s comments on Twitter, including Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, who was one of the first women in the military to perform combat missions during the Iraq War.
“F *** Tucker Carlson,” Duckworth tweeted from his campaign account.
While deployed to Iraq in 2004, Duckworth was piloting a helicopter that was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). Duckworth lost both legs and the partial use of his right arm in the incident.
“While he was practicing his two stages, American war women hunted down Al Qaeda and proved the strength of American women,” Duckworth said tweeted, referencing Carlson’s appearance on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” in 2006. “Happy belated International Women’s Day to everyone except Tucker, who even I can dance better than.”
Twitter user Heather Tregle, who according to her biography is an officer of the Army Judge Advocate General (JAG), said being a mother while on duty “didn’t make fun of the military.”
“I had 2 children during my service in the army, I was deployed in 2 combat zones, I advised commanders at home and in wartime, and I graduated from Naval War College, ”she said. “I can assure you that my presence does not mock the military. If you are looking for a mockery, look in the mirror.”
Another person tweeted that her comments “bothered her very much” and took the opportunity to post a photo of herself from October 1999, while in army basic training in Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, commander of Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base in Ill., Did not refer directly to Carlson, but instead tweeted about female members of the Army. air that served.
“There are nearly 70 km of qualified and stunning #USAF #Airmen women”, Van Ovost tweeted. “For years we have evolved and will continue to evolve, abandoning outdated policies that prevent ANY woman from reaching her full potential.
“Inclusion is our strength,” the general tweeted, “that will be the difference between winning and losing.”
Van Ovost is Mr. Biden’s choice to lead the US Transportation Command. When announcing Van Ovost and his choice for US Southern Command, Lt. Gen. Laura Richardson, Mr Biden said: “We need little girls and little boys, who have grown up dreaming of serving for their country, to find out what the generals are in the country. The armed forces of the United States look like. ”
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