U.S. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth blamed her branch's severe recruiting crisis on the “anti-woke” rhetoric of the political right.
Last year, the Army missed its recruiting goals by 15,000 new recruits, and it is estimated that the Army will miss its goal again by 20,000 recruits this year.
Republicans and other conservatives have criticized the increasing amount of left-wing propaganda the Department of Defense has pushed, such as holding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) trainings and using a drag queen as the face of recruiting advertisements. What a lovely thing to do in the middle of a recruiting crisis!
According to Task & Purpose, Wormuth has “no doubt” that people thinking the military is woke is having an effect on the recruiting crisis.
“We are a ready Army, not a ‘woke’ Army,” Wormuth told reporters last Tuesday after a cake cutting ceremony for the 248th birthday of the Army at the Pentagon auditorium.
“What I am trying to do is talk about the drip, drip, drip criticism about a ‘woke military,’ I do think is having some counterproductive effects on recruiting,” she added.
Related: Texas Christian University Offers 'Queer Art of Drag' Course
So apparently in order to cover up the notion that the increasing public “wokeness” of the DoD is indeed having effects on recruitment, Biden-appointed government officials are doing what they do best: blame it on right-wingers.
After all, it’s not like our criticism could possibly have a tangible logic to it. A vast majority of military members are from America’s “Bible belt” region – in fact, six out of the top 10 states from which we get America’s military personnel are Bible belt states like Texas, Virginia, and North Carolina. Do you really think that when God-fearing and gun-toting young people see drag queens on the face of military recruitment campaigns, they continue to consider joining a service that is promoting political propaganda antithetical to their deeply rooted values?
What happened to the idea that the military needs to stay out of politics and focus on more important things, like national security and providing a national defense?
So, Wormuth may be right that people aren’t joining the ranks due to the ‘wokeness’ of the military, but it’s not because Republicans are peddling false propaganda. It’s because the military has a real problem.
Follow MRCTV on Twitter!
Say What!?: Dem Delegate Says Trump Should Be Shot https://t.co/zPVKblKaUe
— MRCTV (@mrctv) June 20, 2023