Ron DeSantis continues to root out the so-called “woke mind virus,” which he now says is in the U.S. Armed Forces, and which he intends to remove if elected President.
In South Carolina, the Florida Governor and presidential candidate excoriated a “military that has been ordered by civilian officials to pursue political ideology, to pursue social experimentation, to be yet another institution in American life that gets infected with the woke mind virus.”
“This is changing the character of the military,” DeSantis said in West Columbia. “It’s changing the culture of our services and it’s creating a situation in which great warriors have been driven away and recruiting is at an all-time low post abolition of the draft in the Vietnam conflict.”
Among the issues the Governor identified: the use of at least one “drag queen” to help with military recruitment.
“When China sees the Navy, for example, using drag queens to recruit people, they are laughing in our face. When you see some of the nonsense that’s gone on in the services, these are things that would have been unthinkable even 10 years ago, much less in prior generations. Our enemies are whetting their appetite.”
DeSantis vows to “end drag shows on military bases,” according to his campaign. He said Tuesday that “having things like drag shows on military bases, we shouldn’t even be having this discussion,” but it shows “people have lost their way.”
The Governor, if elected President, will also target transgender members of the military, no longer allowing “transgender personnel to serve in the military in their preferred sex.” He would also stop providing “taxpayer funds for sex change hormones and surgeries, which cause issues with readiness.”
“The military is using your tax dollars to pay for hormones and sex change operations for people in the military,” DeSantis said, wondering how that leads to a “lethal fighting force.”
Additionally, DeSantis will end the “DEI bureaucracy,” including eliminating the “Defense Equity Team,” the “Defense Advisory Commission on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” and a swath of other DEI initiatives. The Governor also promises to ban courses “associated with critical race theory at service academies.”
“We need to make sure they’re upholding martial values and martial education,” DeSantis said.
Additionally, the Governor’s campaign says he would ban “equity plans that prioritize certain veterans for benefits over others based on their race,” and would “investigate any commander suspected of using racial or gender preferences in promotions.”
In his remarks, DeSantis also targeted “electric” vehicles, saying that China is not “forcing” their military to use them, but is instead ramping up a “coal plant every week.”
If President, DeSantis would also ban the “Department of Defense from conducting business with advertising with left-wing firms that blacklist conservative news sources.”
DeSantis would, according to his campaign, use “the ‘Bully Pulpit’ to engage all Americans on the power and meaning of its all-volunteer fighting force and a meaningful, purpose-driven military force that will have the resources, backing of their Commander-in-Chief, and the American people to defend the Constitution and the United States.”
He would also “develop a program for schools to teach that our military is and has been a force for justice and good in the world.”
Additionally, he would order “the Department of Defense to collaborate with external organizations to encourage open expression of honest views on perceptions and morale from potential recruits, voluntary military departures, and current personnel. Special focus will be given to addressing the perception of politicization within the military.”
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