Fox News host Tucker Carlson faced stern backlash after he insinuated on his show Tuesday evening that America\u2019s military is becoming more \u201cfeminine\u201d and mocked pregnant servicewomen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Carlson began his segment, visible below, by playing up a controversial proposal by China\u2019s Education Ministry to \u201ccultivate masculinity\u201d in boys.<\/p>\n
The host argued that this was likely related to China\u2019s increased military prowess before highlighting\u00a0a speech that President Joe Biden made on International Woman\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Ignoring the occasion on which the speech was made, Carlson immediately began insinuating that the U.S. was weak compared with China and said \u201cpregnant women are going to fight our wars.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a mockery of the U.S. military,\u201d he said. \u201cWhile China\u2019s military becomes more masculine as it\u2019s assembled the world\u2019s largest navy, our military needs to become, as Joe Biden says, more feminine \u2015 whatever feminine means anymore, since men and women no longer exist.\u00a0The bottom line is it\u2019s out of control, and the Pentagon\u2019s going along with this.\u00a0Again, this is a mockery of the U.S. military and its core mission, which is winning wars.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carlson went on to interview Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who has objected to the inclusion of the book \u201cHow to Be an Antiracist\u201d on U.S. Navy recommended reading lists. Last year, Banks\u00a0backed a resolution blaming China for COVID-19.<\/p>\n
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby chimed in about Carlson\u2019s remarks on Thursday, telling reporters Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressed\u00a0 \u201crevulsion\u201d over the pundit\u2019s commentary.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we absolutely won\u2019t do is take personnel advice from a talk show host, or the Chinese military,\u201d Kirby said. \u201cMaybe those folks feel like they have something to prove. That\u2019s on them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carlson\u2019s 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 \u2015 though he had been rejected by the CIA shortly after he graduated from Trinity College in the early \u201990s.<\/p>\n