Speaking on Fox News, Texas Republican Representative Chip Roy took aim at the United States military for supposed "wokeness," urging the armed forces to "blow things up and kill people" rather than focus on "rainbow bullets."
Roy's remarks came as he complained about members of the military celebrating Pride Month, conveniently forgetting that there are in fact members of the military who are part of the LGBTQ+ community and would have a reason to commemorate Pride Month in the first place.
Somewhere amidst all this word salad he found the time to criticize initiatives promoting diversity and equity, saying they are a means to force White people to "apologize" for their skin color, and lambasted The 1619 Project, the brainchild of investigative journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones that repositions the consequences and legacy of slavery as elements vital to the historical narrative.
You can hear what he said in the video below.
\u201cRep. Chip Roy on members of the military celebrating Pride month: "We need to refocus our military on what it's supposed to do, which is blow things up and kill people."\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1669211499
Roy—a longtime supporter of former Republican President Donald Trump—said:
"You've got the leadership, the brass, the Department of Defense who are prioritizing Pride Month, putting out pictures with rainbow bullets."
"That they're having the military stand down for a day to focus on the whiteness and wokeness and all of the danger which they say is appearing which is actually rather minimal and small."
"They're destroying the culture of our military. Naturally, high positions at the top level of defense [are] for diversity and equity, which is saying, 'Apologize for your whiteness' and promoting [their] 1619 Project."
"We need to end that. We need to refocus our military on what it's supposed to do, which is blow things up and kill people."
Roy's complaints about rainbow bullets are a reference to a tweet the official Twitter account for the United States Marines posted on June 1 to commemorate the start of Pride Month.
The tweet, in which the Marines vowed to "remain committed to fostering an environment free from discrimination, and defend the values of treating all equally, with dignity and respect," featured a helmet with rounds of high-powered and multicolored rifle ammo tucked into its band.
You can see the tweet below.
\u201cThroughout June, the USMC takes #Pride in recognizing and honoring the contributions of our LGBTQ service members. We remain committed to fostering an environment free from discrimination, and defend the values of treating all equally, with dignity and respect.\n\n#PrideMonth #USMC\u201d— U.S. Marines (@U.S. Marines) 1654090901
The tweet was later the subject of a New York Post article that decried the military for its "mixing of warfare and wokeness."
These complaints were ridiculous then and ridiculous now, but people were considerably more incensed by Roy's admission that the military should be blowing things up and killing people and not ensuring that the armed forces are a safe environment for people from all walks of life to serve their country.
Many people—including current and former members of the military—have criticized him for his comments as a result.
\u201cI was in the military. I never killed anyone or blew anything up.\u201d— \u2764\ufe0f\ud83e\udde1\ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udc9a\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9c (@\u2764\ufe0f\ud83e\udde1\ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udc9a\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9c) 1669236653
\u201cBlow things up and kill people? Chip Roy obviously has no idea what our military does \ud83e\udd26\u200d\u2642\ufe0f\u201d— Piyush Mittal \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Piyush Mittal \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1669226201
\u201cThose in the military are not actively looking to blow things up or kill people. This fetishizing violence by the right is getting normal, everyday people killed.\u201d— Toby (@Toby) 1669230791
\u201cI was in the military for 3 years. I never killed anyone. And I never blew things up. Chip has been jerking off to too many videogames.\u201d— Derrick is PRO CHOICE\u264e #BLM \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Derrick is PRO CHOICE\u264e #BLM \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1669222259
\u201cChip Roy wants to turn soldiers into meat shields for his donors\u2019 profits.\u201d— JimiDragon "the Soulless Shadow" (@JimiDragon "the Soulless Shadow") 1669222741
\u201cOkay, well at least that\u2019s honest! Anyone else done funding \u201cblowing things up and killing people\u201d while not thinking?\u201d— AmyD (@AmyD) 1669223130
\u201cBlowing things up and killing people is hard to do well\u2014if you didn't know that before Russia tried to take over Ukraine, you should now\u2014and diverse militaries, which create cultures of mutual respect, and don't shrink their talent pool out of prejudice, perform better in battle.\u201d— Nicholas Grossman (@Nicholas Grossman) 1669225363
\u201cSeriously @chiproytx you know nothing about serving in the military, what a ignorant statement by a ignorant man. \n\nThe military can celebrate diversity and defend our country at the same time. We don\u2019t just sit around blowing up stuff and killing people, none of us want that.\u201d— Skyleigh Heinen (@Skyleigh Heinen) 1669220976
Roy is only the latest conservative to complain about supposed "wokeness" in the military.
Earlier this year, Republican Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida was slammed after he threw a tantrum about "wokeism" in a tense exchange with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that prompted Austin to accuse him of feeling "embarrassed" of his own country.
Gaetz, speaking during a House Armed Services Committee budget hearing, accused the Pentagon of strategic failures, suggesting they'd prioritized "wokeism" and socialism over military preparedness.
He pressed Austin about a talk he gave on democratic socialism at the National Defense University. Conservatives seized on the speech as evidence "woke" politics had impacted the Pentagon's prognostications regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Austin defended the Pentagon, saying it obviously had not struck Gaetz "Russia has not overrun Ukraine because of what we've done and what our allies have done."
Last year, Donald Trump Jr.—who is neither an expert on war nor on international relations—was criticized after he claimed that the United States military failed to predict the Taliban's resurgence in Afghanistan because its generals were "too busy" learning about critical race theory and gender identity.
At the time, Trump Jr. suggested that General Mark Milley, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was too busy "learning about the 97 genders along with their requisite pronouns."
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