Fox News host Laura Ingraham singled out two Republican lawmakers for joining with Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee to block two amendments that would have defunded diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the Department of Defense budget.
U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, a frequent guest on Fox News, and U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., cast the deciding votes in a 30-29 vote against the measures.
“The government has grown fat and way too happy with woke – and that includes the Pentagon,” Ingraham said on Thursday’s show.
“Well, thankfully some in Congress agree with that and during a mark up of the National Defense Authorization Act, Republicans – including my next guest – proposed changes that targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion programs,” she said.
After airing a clip of U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., commenting on his decision to target DEI initiatives, Ingraham said, “One of the amendments Gaetz proposed was to get rid of the Pentagon’s chief diversity officer. Well, it passed, but he wanted to go a step further and eliminate federal funding for all DEI training. That amendment, he says, failed after Republicans joined Democrats to defeat it.”
“Congressman, we reached out to those two Republicans,” the Fox News host said, as she welcomed Gaetz to the program. “And we’re gonna name them. Congressmen Bacon and Turner.”
She then quoted Congressman Bacon’s office: “[One] amendment would have totally cut all diversity training for the military, which is unreasonable. All service members should know that racism and sexual harassment are not tolerated in our military.”
“That’s a weak response,” Ingraham countered.
“As I explained to Congressman Bacon in the committee, we always have standards in the military that don’t allow people to be racist or harmful to their fellow service members, and none of those standards would have changed,” Gaetz explained. “The question is whether or not we ought to have these chief diversity officers, and Laura, they are making as much as $183,000 per year. Compare that to a private in the army or an airman or a sergeant working for our military.”
“I tell you what, if the chief diversity officer is what we need to win wars, maybe we should send them all to the frontlines in Ukraine like now,” he continued. “Get them to Taiwan. But of course that’s not the case. This dilutes our readiness. I’m glad that the structural office has been eliminated, but you always have to follow the money, and that’s why I will continue to pursue efforts to get all of the funding removed.”
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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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