Fox News host Tucker Carlson faced stern backlash after he insinuated on his show Tuesday evening that America’s military is becoming more “feminine” and mocked pregnant servicewomen.
Carlson began his segment, visible below, by playing up a controversial proposal by China’s Education Ministry to “cultivate masculinity” in boys.
The host argued that this was likely related to China’s increased military prowess before highlighting a speech that President Joe Biden made on International Woman’s Day about changes to make it easier for women to serve in the military, including providing them with better-fitting body armor and maternity flight suits.
Ignoring the occasion on which the speech was made, Carlson immediately began insinuating that the U.S. was weak compared with China and said “pregnant women are going to fight our wars.”
“It’s a mockery of the U.S. military,” he said. “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. The bottom line is it’s out of control, and the Pentagon’s going along with this. Again, this is a mockery of the U.S. military and its core mission, which is winning wars.”
Carlson went on to interview Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who has objected to the inclusion of the book “How to Be an Antiracist” on U.S. Navy recommended reading lists. Last year, Banks backed a resolution blaming China for COVID-19.
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby chimed in about Carlson’s remarks on Thursday, telling reporters Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressed “revulsion” over the pundit’s commentary.
“What we absolutely won’t do is take personnel advice from a talk show host, or the Chinese military,” Kirby said. “Maybe those folks feel like they have something to prove. That’s on them.”
Carlson’s comments were also slammed on social media, with a number of women in the military as well as senior officers blasting the Fox News host for his condescension and pointing out that he had never served in the military ― though he had been rejected by the CIA shortly after he graduated from Trinity College in the early ’90s.