*Military leaders, veterans and veterans groups are railing against Fox News host Tucker Carlson after he attacked the notion of pregnant women serving in the armed forces.
Carlson called women in “maternity flight suits” a mockery of the U.S. military, and made a transphobic jab in his speech during a Tuesday night broadcast. His segment was in response to President Joe Biden’s acknowledgment that the military has tailored combat uniforms for women during his International Women’s Day remarks.
“While China’s military becomes more masculine as it’s assembled the world’s largest navy, our military, as Joe Biden says, needs to become more feminine — whatever feminine means anymore since men and women no longer exist,” Carlson said. “The bottom line is it’s out of control and the Pentagon is going along with it. Again, this is a mockery of the U.S. military and its core mission, which is winning wars.”
Watch below:
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a response to Carlson’s remarks Thursday that the Department of Defense would not be taking personnel advice from “a talk show host or the Chinese military.” He added, “Maybe those folks feel like they have something to prove, that’s on them. We know we’re the greatest military in the world today, and even for all the things we need to improve.”
He added that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “shares the revulsion” of other leaders who have criticized Carlson’s remarks.
A number of active military members, veterans and veterans groups took issue with Carlson’s remarks, most making the point that he has never served in the military.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Il – an Army veteran who lost her legs during a deployment in Iraq, famously became the first sitting senator to give birth while in office and brought her newborn daughter, Maile, to a 2018 Senate floor vote – responded to Carlson with a tweet referencing his brief appearance on “Dancing with the Stars.”
“While he was practicing his two-step, America’s female warriors were hunting down Al Qaeda and proving the strength of America’s women,” Duckworth said. “Happy belated International Women’s Day to everyone but Tucker, who even I can dance better than.”
Progressive PAC VoteVets, which seeks to increase the number of Democratic veterans in Congress, also reminded folks of his “DWTS” appearance while scorching the Fox News host with this video:
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