Rep. Michael Waltz, a former Green Beret, is throwing his support behind a Marine currently under investigation for appearing at a Trump rally.
Lance Cpl. Hunter Clark is being investigated for potentially violating the political activities directive within the Department of Defense policy for coming onstage at former President Donald Trump’s Sept. 25 “Save America” rally in Perry, Georgia.
After being called onstage by the former president, Clark introduced himself as “the guy that pulled the baby over the wall,” referencing the viral video of a service member near the gates of Hamid Karzai International Airport amid the tumultuous evacuation efforts during the final stretch of the Afghanistan War.
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Waltz, in a letter on Thursday addressed to Gen. David Berger, the commandant of the Marine Corps, said that he does “not believe LCpl Clark violated any policies,” and he urged the military officer to “consider the perspective of conservatives who believe the military is unevenly applying justice to servicemembers who hold conservative beliefs.”
The Florida Republican also encouraged the command team to “consider the perspective that supporters of former President Trump view the investigation as politically driven.”
While onstage, the lance corporal identified himself as “the guy that pulled the baby over the wall,” though his command said he was not the Marine in the Aug. 19 viral video, adding, “It’s definitely probably one of the greatest things I’ve done in my entire life.”
Capt. Kelton Cochran, a spokesman for the 24th MEU, declined to comment about the case to the Washington Examiner, saying only, “The investigation is still in progress. Any details pertaining to this incident are not releasable while the investigation is being conducted.”
“It was not an endorsement of the president,” Waltz told the Washington Examiner in an interview. “It was not an endorsement of the Republican Party. It was not a speech. To my knowledge, he was not listed as a speaker. So, given those dynamics, I’m expressing the concern to the Marine Corps commandant and imploring him to look at this in the context of the view by many conservatives that, one, the military itself has become politicized.”
The lawmaker brought up the teaching of the decades-old critical race theory as an indicator of the military’s politicization when asked if he believed the military had become partisan.
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Critical race theory dates back to the 1970s, and it provides an alternative perspective on the country’s history on race. Critical race theorists argue that the country’s foundational institutions are designed to keep white people ahead of minorities, requiring the dismantlement of the system to achieve a more just society while opponents, mainly but not exclusively conservatives, conclude that the theory is divisive because it assigns white people the role of oppressors and people of color the role of victims.
“We’re raising these concerns with the military leadership pretty directly both in hearings and in letters and publicly, and in private meetings as well,” the congressman said. “And then, what we’re going to seek to do, if we can’t do it through the defense bill, certainly, if we get the majority back in the house, we’re going to legislate it.”
