The Department of Defense opened fire Thursday on Fox News host Tucker Carlson over a segment in which he said that efforts to make the armed forces more welcoming to women are “a mockery of the US military.”
Carlson made the remark during a segment on the Tuesday night episode of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” that began by contrasting Chinese efforts to promote traditional masculinity with President Biden’s recent announcement that the US military is developing new uniforms to accommodate women’s hairstyles, as well as pregnant women.
“So we’ve got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits,” said Carlson. “Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. It’s a mockery of the US military.
“While China’s military becomes more masculine … our military needs to become, as Joe Biden says, more feminine,” he continued. “It’s out of control and the Pentagon’s going along with this. Again, this is a mockery of the US military and its core mission, which is winning wars.”
On Thursday, the DOD issued a release with the headline “Press Secretary Smites Fox Host That Dissed Diversity in U.S. Military,” in which top Pentagon spokesman John Kirby pushed back against Carlson’s comments.
“I want to be very clear right up front, that the diversity of our military is one of our greatest strengths,” said Kirby. “I’ve seen it for myself in long months at sea and in the combat waged by our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. I’ve seen it up on Capitol Hill just this past month. And I see it every day here right at the Pentagon.”
Kirby noted that he is a proud Navy spouse.
“One of the best decisions I ever made was becoming a Navy spouse myself, married to a terrific young naval officer who gave birth to our first child, and then went right back to work doing civil engineering for an air force base in Jacksonville,” he wrote.
Carlson — already embroiled this week in a running back-and-forth with New York Times journalist Taylor Lorenz — vowed on Twitter to respond on Thursday night’s show.
“This afternoon, the Department of Defense issued a press release attacking this show: ‘Press secretary smites Fox Host,’” wrote Carlson. “Like we’re a hostile foreign power. Remarkable. We’ll respond at 8pm ET on #FoxNews”