Failed Kentucky Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Amy McGrath, who was the first female Marine combat pilot, criticized Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s comments about women in the military demanding Fox News apologize, Thursday on MsNBC’s “Deadline.”

In a video from his show, Carlson said, “So we’ve got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits. Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. It’s a mockery of the U.S. military. While China’s military becomes more masculine as it’s assembled the world’s largest navy, our military needs to become, as Joe Biden says, more feminine, whatever feminine means anymore since men and women no longer exist. The bottom line is it’s out of control, and the Pentagon is going along with this. Again this is a mockery of the U.S. military.”

McGrath said, “We always want to look at how to retain the best and the brightest in our military. That makes our military stronger. I’ve had three kids on active duty. Those of us who are women, who have served in our military, or are actively serving right now, we are not a mockery. We’ve served, we’ve sacrificed, we’ve bled, we’ve died for this country for the freedom of Tucker Carlson to spout off these falsehoods. The problem is when a major news network allows this sort of thing to happen, it really denigrates women in the military and hurts readiness. And in my mind, Fox News ought to apologize to all women in the military, both active duty and those of us who are veterans.”

Anchor Nicolle Wallace said, “What do you make of a cable news host turning the fighting forces into a cultural battleground?”

McGrath said, “It’s sensationalism, making things up, trying to create a new story where there is none. The fact of the matter is women serve honorably and have served throughout our entire American history. It’s good to see senior members of the military speaking out against this. I’d like to see more political leaders step up and speak out against this because it does hurt or forces.”

She added, “You know, we go to great lengths to try to keep people that we have invested in. You know, pilots, we spend millions training them, and those of us who are pilots, you know, we want to have families, women, and men. So we’ve got to look at what are the kinds of things that we can do here in 2021 to make sure that the people that we have invested in, who have protected us and protected our country, are cared for and are able to have families of their own. This is really important.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN