Laura Ingraham, the host of “The Ingraham Angle” on Fox News, recently took an unexpected stance by criticizing Ohio Republican Rep. Mike Turner.
Turner was criticized by Ingraham for his hypocritical inconsistency, pointing out that although frequently speaking harsh on Fox News, he routinely votes with Democrats.
In particular, Turner’s vote record on two amendments to the U.S. Department of Defense budget that sought to defund diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) projects was emphasized by Ingraham. She attacked his choice to support Democrats in demonizing them.
By a vote of 30 to 29, the House Armed Services Committee defeated both proposals. Only Republican Don Bacon of Nebraska and Republican Turner voted with the Democrats to oppose the initiatives.
“The government has become fat and way too happy with woke – and that includes the Pentagon. During a markup of the National Defense Authorization Act, Republicans – including my next guest – proposed changes that targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion programs,” Ingraham said, before airing a clip of Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz slamming DEI initiatives at a committee hearing.
“Now, one of the amendments Gaetz proposed was to get rid of the Pentagon’s chief diversity officer,” Ingraham said. “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. Gonna name names.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) was then brought in to offer his opinion.
“Congressman, we reached out to those two Republicans,” Ingraham said. “And we’re gonna name them. Congressmen Bacon and Turner. Congressman Bacon’s office responded in part, ‘[One] amendment would have totally cut all diversity training for the military, which is unreasonable. All service members should know that racism and s**ual harassment are not tolerated in our military.’ That’s a weak response.”
Gaetz noted: “Well, 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.
“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,” Gaetz noted further.
“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. Get them to Taiwan. But, of course, that’s not the case. This dilutes our readiness,” he added. “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.”
SEE IT HERE:
The Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’s official website states: “ODEI is an organization aligned under the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) that develops and executes diversity management and equal opportunity policies and programs affecting active duty and reserve component military personnel and DOD civilian employees.”
“The changing face of the Nation demands that we change. As the demographic makeup of the American population continues to evolve, it is imperative that the Department of Defense focus its efforts on emerging talent to ensure that we successfully attract, recruit, develop, and retain a highly-skilled Total Force capable of meeting current and future mission requirements,” the website adds.
Gaetz has regularly clashed with the present military brass under President Biden over what he sees as overtly “woke” policies that support left-wing political philosophies and goals.