We saw an unprecedented political attack by members of the military from official military accounts, even from the Department of Defense website on Fox host Tucker Carlson.
Why? Because he dared to raise a question about why Joe Biden was saying he and the military were focused on “maternity flight suits” and “updated requirements for hairstyles” instead of being focused on things like the threats from China.
It was wrong because the military should never insert itself into political controversy, much less go after a private citizen and appear to be trying to silence him, particularly not from official accounts, websites, or while in uniform. It also appeared to be allowed and even coordinated since so many accounts were responding.
Here’s a sample of some of the official accounts who actually involved themselves in an attack on a journalist.
— Dr. Nickarama (@nickaramaOG) March 11, 2021
Smiting a journalist? How insane have our military leaders gotten with this?
Hey @TuckerCarlson, this is my Squad and they’re @USArmy Strong. You’d be lucky to meet them. #VictoryStartsHere pic.twitter.com/9TUfyuc0pz
— GEN Paul E. Funk II (@PaulFunk2) March 11, 2021
Even the Army Counterintelligence official account involves itself in the pile-on.
Big Hooah! https://t.co/0QejqqbCJW
— Army Counterintelligence (@Real_ArmyCI) March 12, 2021
These, from the official Twitter account of the U.S. Marine Corps Twitter for the II MEF Information Group, were deleted.
— Dr. Nickarama (@nickaramaOG) March 15, 2021
— Dr. Nickarama (@nickaramaOG) March 15, 2021
Tucker responded as we wrote about here and here.
But it’s unsettled many Americans, wondering what has become of the military when it does things like this?
Many who loved and cared about the military were very troubled by what was going on here.
Army veteran and Daily Caller associate editor Virginia Kruta and retired Gunnery Sergeant U.S. Marine Corps and a Newsmax contributor Jessie Jane Duff both weighed in with how improper this all was on the part of these military members.
I have.
And Tucker’s point was that the priority should always be mission first — and the current administration is telegraphing a very different set of priorities.
At no point did he say that pregnant women shouldn’t serve or couldn’t serve honorably.
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) March 13, 2021
Thank you, Sir
Tucker presented compelling arguments on USG priorities, policy & national security based upon the CIC’s own comments.
In other words, he did his job.
When military leaders criticize a civilian they disagree politically, it should be a concern for all Americans.
— Jessie Jane Duff (@JessieJaneDuff) March 15, 2021
Now, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is doing something about it and demanding answers from Defense Secretary Loyd Austin in a letter.
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
Cruz explained in the letter how military policy prohibits military members from engaging in political activities or partisan actions in their official capacity. Cruz said he was “deeply troubled” that the military’s obligation to avoid involvement in political controversy was being undermined “for the sake of leftwing ideology and political expediency.”
Cruz explained that no matter what one thinks on the subject of identity politics or the particular questions, the military should never be involving itself in political controversy or appearing to take a side. Cruz was also troubled that military members were suggesting that Americans couldn’t criticize the military unless they had served.
“This spectacle risks politicizing the military after several centuries of efforts to keep military officials out of domestic affairs, undermining civil-military relations by having the military take a side in a contentious cultural dispute, and the perception that military leaders are happily weaponizing the institution against political critics of the sitting administration. This kind of behavior, while perhaps typical in a military-controlled Third World country, is completely unacceptable in the United States of America.”
Cruz pointedly said that he was very concerned about what this meant for the direction that Austin and Joe Biden wanted to move the military.
He asked for a formal response to his letter and for a sit down with the Commandant of the Marine Corps since so many of the comments were from Marine accounts.
Good for Sen. Cruz and more lawmakers should be joining him on this. This is something we should never be seeing from the military and everyone should be calling it out. It indicates a deep problem that needs to be addressed now before it gets any worse.
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