The U.S. Navy lied about the existence of a recruitment outreach program that featured an active-duty drag queen serving as a “digital ambassador.”
That’s according to the New York Post, which reported that the Navy denied the existence of the outreach program featuring drag performer Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley during a March call with the House Armed Services Committee. Kelley, whose drag name is “Harpy Daniels,” was one of five such ambassadors in a program designed to attract a more diverse workforce, according to the newspaper.
U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), chair of the House Armed Services Committee subcommittee on Military Personnel, told the Post that a Navy briefer said the program “did not exist,” even though it had operated from October to March.
“We are facing a historic recruitment crisis and instead of focusing efforts on strengthening our force, the Biden administration is forcing wokeness on our service members,” Banks said. “Navy leadership knew this was a ridiculous and embarrassing stunt, and that is why they initially denied involvement with the program.”
The military has a huge recruiting/retention crisis because they went woke. How did they try to fix it? By going more woke. Meet Joshua Kelley. Drag name Harpy Daniels. U.S. Navy named him Digital Ambassador to recruit new demos to join the Navy. Insane. pic.twitter.com/2DWOAIgWr4
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) May 2, 2023
Banks and U.S. Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.), who also sits on the subcommittee, are looking for answers from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as to why lawmakers were misled.
“Secretary Austin claimed that the Biden DoD does not support drag shows. If he was testifying honestly then he has an obligation to discipline the officials who decided that sexually explicit content should be featured in the Navy’s Digital Ambassador program,” Banks announced in a release. “There’s no doubt that Biden appointees are behind the Pentagon’s hard-left turn and Republicans on the Armed Services Committee will continue to question Secretary Austin about the divisive and woke insanity that’s helped drive recruitment to a historic low.”
The lawmaker noted that Austin testified at a March 29 House Armed Services Committee hearing that “drag shows are not something that the Department of Defense supports or funds.”
A letter Banks sent last week detailed facts that ran counter to the claim:
“On November 29th, 2022, Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley posted on social media that the Navy had appointed him to be the ‘first Navy Digital Ambassador!’ On December 20th, 2022, Kelley responded to a comment on his social media channel which asked, ‘[D]oes your command know you’re doing this?’ with a video dressed in drag at what appears to be an official Navy holiday party. Earlier this week, a Navy spokesperson defended the Navy’s support of Yeoman 2nd Class Kelley and said the program was ‘designed to explore the digital environment to reach a wide range of potential candidates.'”
In a joint letter sent Tuesday, Banks and Alford said, “It now appears that not only did the Navy engage in this misguided effort, but it incomprehensibly believed that this woke campaign should become the defining face of the service.”
The GOP lawmakers are calling for the end end of woke ideology in the U.S. military.
“Fringe ideologies and drag shows have no place in our military. Rather, the military should be focused on deterring adversaries and remaining a lethal force to defend the nation,” they wrote. “Promoting drag shows does nothing to enhance military readiness and war-fighting capabilities.”
Banks told the Post: “As a Navy veteran, I am committed to exposing and rooting out wokeness in our military.”
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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