Texas senator Ted Cruz slammed the Pentagon and accused US military leaders of launching “political attacks” against Fox News host Tucker Carlson after the conservative pundit launched a sexist attack against women in the military last week.
“Under Biden, the military is launching political attacks to intimidate Tucker Carlson & other civilians who criticize their policy decisions,” Cruz tweeted on Sunday, attaching a copy of a letter he wrote to US secretary of defense Lloyd Austin.
“Officials in uniform are being used for the campaign. I’ve demanded a meeting with the Commandant of the USMC to put a stop to it,” he said.
Cruz also alleged that the military was undermining ‘its broader obligation to avoid political endorsements’ by responding to Carlson’s attack on female servicemembers “for the sake of leftwing ideology and political expediency.”
“This spectacle risks politicizing the military after several centuries of efforts to keep military officials out of domestic affairs,” he wrote in his letter. “This kind of behavior, while perhaps typical in a military-controlled Third World country, is completely unacceptable in the United States of America.”
The clash began with Fox host Carlson’s controversial remarks over new specialized flight suits for pregnant women in the military, as he labeled it an attempt by Joe Biden to make the military “more feminine”.
“So we’ve got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits,” Carlson said last week on his show. “Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. It’s a mockery of the US military.
“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, whatever feminine means anymore since men and women no longer exist.”
Former and serving military leaders, including a number of ex-defense chiefs, condemned Carlson for his comments, calling them sexist and “divisive”.
Carlson responded by doubling down on his stance since, calling the officers who have criticized him “woke generals”.
Under Biden, the military is launching political attacks to intimidate Tucker Carlson & other civilians who criticize their policy decisions.
Officials in uniform are being used for the campaign.
I've demanded a meeting with the Commandant of the USMC to put a stop to it. pic.twitter.com/Ihl8xRJr0S
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 14, 2021