Tucker Carlson.Photo: Rich Polk/Getty
In an unusual rebuke, the Pentagon and high-ranking members of the U.S. military responded this week to what they called a “divisive"Fox Newssegment in which hostTucker Carlsontook umbrage at changing standards meant to be more inclusive of female service members.
Carlson, who isno stranger to controversy, said on his show Tuesday night that the changes, such as new uniforms for pregnant women, made “a mockery of the U.S. military.”
The conservative host’s reaction came after PresidentJoe Biden’s speech for International Women’s Day on Monday, in which he reflected on the military’supdated standards, including better-fitting uniforms for women and changing requirements about hairstyles.
The goal, Biden said, was that “all women feel safe and respected in our military.”
“So we’ve got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits,” Carlson said on his show Tuesday. “Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. It’s a mockery of the U.S. military.”
In fact, assome military news outletsnoted, maternity flight suits aren’t even for combat but rather for “all manner of daily work” as pregnant women can’t deploy.
Carlson went on: “While China’s military becomes more masculine, as it’s assembled the world’s largest navy, our military needs to become, as Joe Biden says, more feminine.”
“The bottom line is: It’s out of control,” he continued, “and the Pentagon’s going along with this.”
A wave of military members quickly responded on social media.
“Women lead our most lethal units with character. They will dominate ANY future battlefield we’re called to fight on,“tweetedMichael A. Grinston, the sergeant major of the Army.
“[Carlson’s] words are divisive, don’t reflect our values,” Grinston added. “We have THE MOST professional, educated, agile, and strongest NCO Corps in the world.”
Major Gen. Patrick Donahoetweeteda video of himself re-enlisting a woman whom he said was “one of the tens of thousands of women” who serve in the U.S. Army.
Donahoe added that Carlson “couldn’t be more wrong.”
Pentagon building.Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty
Others veterans were more direct: “F*ck Tucker Carlson,“tweetedSen. Tammy Duckworth, a former pilot who lost both her legs when her helicopter was shot down in Iraq.
(In November, CarlsonmockedDuckworth’s patriotism despite her track record of service and derided her as as “moron” for saying she was open to debating the value of removing certain historical monuments.)
The Pentagonofficially weighed inThursday.
In response to the criticism, Carlsonsaid on his showThursday night that the Pentagon was singling him out in an anti-media attack.
“Since when does the Pentagon declare war on a domestic news operation? We can’t remember that ever happening. But we’re going to pass on that,” he said, “because this is bigger than a feud with some flack at the Pentagon.”
The Pentagon’s spokesman vowed Thursday the U.S. military would become “more inclusive, more respectful of everyone — especially women.”
source: people.com
