Air Force veteran Republican Rep. Chris Stewart (UT) in an interview Monday scolded military leaders for getting wrapped up in politics when they criticized en masse Fox News show host Tucker Carlson’s critique of President Joe Biden focusing more on military reforms for women instead of China.
Stewart said their criticism of Carlson was “deeply offensive to those who have served in the military.” He said:
This is not their job. They are not to set the policy, and they are not supposed to be involved in politics. … In a day when everything is politicized — everything from the NBA, and football, and toys, and Dr. Seuss, and the border wall, and Big Tech — everything is politicized. We always counted on one thing not being — and that is the military.
And if we allow them to start engaging in politics, are they going to start advocating for a pay raise? Are they going to start advocating what our policy should be on whether we withdraw from Iraq? Or whether we engage with China? Their job is to prepare to fight and win wars — let the policymakers determine how we engage and where we engage and to stay out of politics.
He called it “absurd” that some of the military leaders said Carlson should not comment on the military since he had not served himself.
Stewart, who did serve, said, “I can comment on any policy as an informed American, we should comment on that.”
“Everyone has a right to speak out because this is America,” host Laura Ingraham said.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) also on Monday evening called for the politicization of the military to “stop now.”
“.@DeptofDefense is being politicized. Uniformed service members recently criticized a private citizen for his First Amendment rights, & today a Dem lawmaker used soldiers in a political stunt against a GOP member. @SecDef Austin—This sets a dangerous precedent. It must stop now,” he tweeted.
Earlier in the day, a video emerged of a political stunt by Guam Democrat Rep. Michael F.Q. San Nicolas in which he led a group of Guam National Guard soldiers to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)’s office, reportedly because she implied last month that Guam was not part of America.
The video showed more than a dozen National Guard in uniform accompanying the Democrat to the Republican lawmaker’s office. Members of the military are supposed to refrain from partisan or political activities while in uniform.
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