Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin blew off criticism from some conservatives who have accused the military of focusing too much on inclusivity.
The United States military will never be “soft,” the Biden administration official told CNN in an interview published on Memorial Day.
Conservatives and Republicans dinged the U.S. Army for releasing a recruitment video focusing on diversity. Among them was Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who disagreed with the campaign of recruiting ads designed to appeal to a wider swath of the public.
WHITE HOUSE TURNS CRITICISM OF BIDEN MEETING WITH US ‘ADVERSARIES’ INTO ATTACK ON TRUMP
“Holy crap, perhaps a woke, emasculated military is not the best idea,” Cruz said in reference to a tweet that had a Russian military ad set side by side with a clip from a U.S. recruitment video in which Cpl. Emma Malonelord said she was “raised by two moms” and “marched for equality.”
https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1395394254969753601
“We have the greatest military on earth, but Dem politicians & woke media are trying to turn them into pansies,” the Texas Republican senator added in a tweet.
Lloyd said that countries such as China and Russia “would like to capitalize on talking points like that.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
But, the defense secretary stressed, “I will not lose one minute of sleep about what the Chinese leadership is saying or what [Russian President] Vladimir Putin is saying. What I will focus on, and what I am focused on, is the defense of this nation and making sure that we have what’s needed to be successful.”
The ads are a “distinct departure from previous Army campaigns” because of their use of “intimate” portrayals and turning “what was once a one-dimensional view of Army service into something more relatable,” the Army said in a press release.
