Mike Pompeo Launches Campaign to ‘Fight Back’ Against Military ‘Wokeism’ Before It’s ‘Too Late’

Former U.S. Secretary of State and Army veteran Mike Pompeo launched a campaign dedicated to combating the “radical left ideology” of “wokeism” in the military “before it’s too late,” after warning it is endangering Americans and puts the armed forces “at risk from assaults within.”

Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, former Secretary of State, CIA director, and GOP lawmaker Pompeo announced his effort dubbed “Troops Speak Out,” in a clip that has since garnered tens of thousands of views.

“We can’t let wokeism take over our military,” he wrote. “It’s time to fight back.”

In the clip, Pompeo discusses his first assignment as a platoon leader in a tank platoon after being accepted to the United States Military Academy, calling fellow service members “some of America’s finest.” 

“These were people who understood what America was truly about,” he said.

In contrast, Pompeo stated, today’s military is “under assault from the radical left,” whose “focus on the wrong priorities” will make Americans “a lot less safe.” 

“We’ll use the right pronouns, but what we won’t have is the capacity to keep our country safe,” he said, adding that “no Russian general, no Iranian leader, [and] no Chinese Communist Party Admiral” spends time considering “gender or woke ideology or climate change.” 

Calling to “walk away from this radical left ideology,” Pompeo, a West Point graduate, concluded “we cannot let it penetrate our military.”

The fresh campaign is a project of Pompeo’s nonprofit advocacy group CAVFUND (Champion American Values), which aims to promote conservative policies and solutions, according to its website.

In a letter posted on the project’s site, the former secretary of state and congressman warns that “our nation’s military power is at risk from assaults within.”

“I can think of no more damaging affront to our nation’s security than pitting our servicemen and women against each other based upon the melanin in their skin,” he wrote, adding that the only military standard should be “excellence.”

In a series of tweets from Wednesday, Pompeo reiterated the dangers posed by “wokeism” and the need to combat it.

“We’ve seen wokeism spread through many American institutions — academia, Hollywood, and even big business,” he wrote. “When wokeism takes over, the institution becomes nothing more than a tool to advance left-wing policies.”

“We can’t let that happen to our military,” he added.

Pompeo noted this “sickness has taken hold in the Air Force” as well. 

“The Air Force Academy has a fellowship that excludes ‘cisgendered’ men,” he wrote. “They tell cadets not to say ‘mom & dad.’ And they even discourage using the word ‘terrorist.’”

Calling the notion that one is defined by their race and gender — and not the content of their character — a “Marxist dogma,” Pompeo argued that such thinking is “the antithesis of everything that makes America great” and of the values that he “and all our troops fought for.”

In another tweet, Pompeo detailed the need for Americans to “wake up” to the problem, as well as the need for policymakers to “take action before it’s too late.”

“Not a single federal dollar should fund this Marxist propaganda in our military institutions,” he wrote. “And anyone pushing it should be fired.”

“Losing our military’s institutions to Marxism would be catastrophic—and put our security at risk,” he added.

Last week, Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, who serves as a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, expressed outrage over the racist rhetoric —  including the explicit disparaging of white people — of Kelisa Wing, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion chief for the military’s education system.

Stefanik (R-NY) slammed the DoD for promoting the radical diversity chief, while calling upon it to “realign” its “shameful” priorities “away from woke ideologies.”

In June, a Navy training video surfaced depicting sailors being educated to use the “right” pronouns, “show that we’re allies,” and create “a safe space for everybody” as well as being taught how to proceed after having “misgendered” another.

Earlier that month, the U.S. Marine Corps shared a celebratory image of a Marine helmet featuring rainbow bullets in honor of “Pride Month.”

In addition, the United States Air Force tweeted out a graphic with the hashtag “#CELEBRATEPRIDE” and a female airman saluting with rainbow colors on her hand to celebrate the beginning of Pride Month.

The Space Force also tweeted out a Pride Month message.

Last year, Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Harker released a memo outlining his efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the Navy.

The memo was intended to serve as a framework for ongoing DEI efforts in the Navy and directed the Chief Diversity Officer of the Navy, Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) Cathy Kessmeier, to lead a Strategic Planning Team and develop an action plan to promote DEI.