On Thursday’s “PBS NewsHour,” Army Secretary Christine Wormuth reacted to arguments about the military becoming “woke” by stating that “trust in the military is still very, very strong.” But acknowledged that it “has declined. We used to be up in the 80s, and I think now we’re in the sort of mid-60s. So, there’s work to be done there too.”
“NewsHour” Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent Nick Schifrin asked, “[Y]ou also acknowledge you’re dealing — especially with Generation Z — [with] a declining trust in institutions and in the military? According to Gallup, trust in the military is at the lowest point in a half-century.”
Wormuth responded, “Yeah, trust is declining. And we call it propensity, are people wanting to join?”
She added, “And, like eligibility, propensity to serve has been declining for years now. But, certainly, part of it, I think, is Generation Z’s distrust in institutions, sort of skepticism about authority.”
Schifrin then asked, “And the military itself? There’s an argument, especially in conservative circles, that the military is somehow acting out some kind of woke agenda.”
Wormuth responded, “Yeah, well, happily, trust in the military is still very, very strong. Next to small businesses, the United States military is the most trusted institution in the country. But that has declined. We used to be up in the 80s, and I think now we’re in the sort of mid-60s. So, there’s work to be done there too.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett