- Tucker Carlson scoffed at “awake generals” at the Pentagon during his Fox News program on Friday
- Defense chiefs criticized Carlson this week for his comments on women in the military.
- Carlson responded by saying that his supporters “were almost shaken” by the criticism.
- See more stories on the Insider business page.
Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson on Friday fired at “awake generals” at the Pentagon after receiving intense criticism this week from several defense chiefs after comments he made on women in the military
Speaking during Friday night’s edition of his “Tucker Carlson Tonight” program, the presenter said his supporters were “almost shaken” by the Pentagon’s rebuke this week, until they realized that the U.S. military did not defeat the Taliban. .
“We were almost shaken. So we realized that if the agreed generals treated us the way they treated the Taliban, we would be fine. Twenty years later, the Taliban is still here,” said Carlson during the program, according to The Hill.
“Perhaps we should promise the Pentagon that we will get rid of traditional gender roles in this program. Change the pronouns, defeat the patriarchy and all that,” he added. “Then they would send us billions of unmarked $ 100 bills as a reward. They have certainly done this before.
A list of military leaders, including Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, rebuked Carlson after he accused President Joe Biden of trying to feminize the military.
“F — Tucker Carlson,” Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran, tweeted. “While he practiced his two steps, American warriors hunted down Al Qaeda and proved the strength of American women.”
On Thursday, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby also publicly rebuked Carlson for his comments, telling reporters, “We still have a lot of work to do to make our military more inclusive,” according to Newsweek.
Kirby went on to say that the department will not “take personal advice from a talk show host or the Chinese military.” He added that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “shares the disgust of many others with what Carlson said in his opening statement.”
Following Biden’s comments on International Women’s Day, highlighting efforts to make the armed forces more accommodating to military women, Carlson said these measures “would ridicule the US armed forces”.
“So, we have new hair styles and flight suits for pregnant women,” said Carlson. “Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. It is a mockery of the US military.”
Carlson added that “although the Armed Forces of China become more masculine in setting up the largest navy in the world, our Armed Forces need to become, as Joe Biden says, more feminine”.
Insider contacted Fox News for comment, but received no response in time for publication.