“What we are absolutely not going to do is take personal advice from a talk show host,” said Kirby.
Carlson made the comments while discussing a Chinese initiative to increase “masculinity” among his military ranks.
“As the Armed Forces of China become more masculine as the largest navy in the world is set up, our Armed Forces, as Joe Biden says, need to become more feminine – whatever feminine means most, as men and women there are no more, ”he said. “The end result is that it is out of control and the Pentagon is agreeing to that. Again, this is a mockery of the US military and its main mission, which is to win wars ”.
Kirby said the Department of Defense was not interested in Carlson’s comments or in the troop readiness tactics employed by the Chinese military.
“Maybe these people feel they have something to prove, this is their fault,” said Kirby. “We know that we are the greatest military in the world today, and even for all the things that we need to improve.”
Kirby went on to say that the US military is “better and more effective” when it is representative of the entire American people.
Carlson’s comments sparked a backlash between groups of military and veterans, many of whom pointed out that the Fox News presenter never served in the army.
Representative Mike Sherrill, who previously piloted helicopters in the United States Navy, criticized Carlson for his comments.
“I served with women who risked their lives to protect our country. Not Tucker, ”said Sherrill. “As long as he denigrates those who serve, our military remains the best fighting force due, in large part, to our incredible women on duty.”
Scott Stalker, the enlisted leader of the U.S. Space Command who served for 28 years, said Carlson’s comments were little more than a “TV drama” and rejected his criticism because it was based on “actually, zero days” of military service.
“These decisions were made by medical professionals, commanders and our civilian leadership, which allows women to have more time with their children to recover, get fit and prepared,” said Stalker.