‘Good riddance’:
Pentagon officials cheer Tucker Carlson’s ouster (Connecting
the Dots: Politico Article, DoD, Fox News, Rupert
Murdoch, Papal Knighthood & Soros Funding, All Networking)
POLITICO
The former Fox host ridiculed top DoD leaders over
Biden-era policies.
By LARA SELIGMAN
04/25/2023 07:40 PM EDT
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/25/pentagon-officials-cheer-tucker-carlson-ouster-00093819
From maternity flight suits to diversity policies to
Ukraine aid, the military was a favorite punching bag for Tucker Carlson. Now
that he’s off the air, some Pentagon officials are quietly cheering his
departure.
Carlson’s criticism of Biden-era personnel policies
appealed to many of the rank-and-file, which has a large bloc of conservative
members. But at the upper levels of the Defense Department, news of Carlson’s firing from Fox News on Monday was met
with delight and outright glee in some corners.
“We’re a better country without him bagging on our
military every night in front of hundreds of thousands of people,” said one
senior DoD official, who like others interviewed for this story was granted
anonymity to discuss a politically sensitive topic.
“Good riddance,” said a second DoD official.
Asked to respond to the news that DoD officials are
pleased by his departure from Fox, Carlson responded by text message: “Ha! I’m
sure.” He declined to comment further.
The tension between the former cable host and Pentagon
leadership isn’t new. Carlson drew the ire of top DoD officials early in the
Biden administration for
personal attacks on a number
of military leaders, as well as ridiculing the armed forces’ efforts
to increase diversity. A slew of conservative leaders quickly followed
Carlson’s lead, giving rise to a small but vocal minority that to this
day continues
to hammer DoD officials, saying they’re focusing personnel
policies at the expense of preparing for war. The Pentagon says only a small
percentage of troops’ time is spent on diversity training.
Most memorably, Carlson’s remarks disparaging female
service members in March 2021 prompted
a rare rebuke from then-Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby.
After President Joe Biden announced new efforts to
recruit and keep women in the service — including designing new body armor,
updating requirements for hairstyles and the nominations of two female generals
to become combatant commanders — at a White House ceremony, Carlson accused the
commander in chief of making a “mockery” of the troops.
“So, we’ve got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits.
Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. It’s a mockery of the U.S.
military,” he said.
In response, Kirby took a rare swipe at the Fox News
host.
“What we absolutely won’t do is take personnel advice
from a talk show host or the Chinese military,” Kirby said during a briefing
with reporters, adding that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “shares the
revulsion” of others who criticized Carlson’s remarks.
The comments yielded another rarity: The Pentagon’s
in-house news service published an article focused entirely on the dust-up: “Press
Secretary Smites Host That Dissed Diversity in U.S. Military.”
Kirby, who is now the top spokesperson for the National
Security Council at the White House, declined to comment for this story.
The Fox News host targeted the Air Force in particular,
calling Lt. Gen. Brad Webb, then-commander of Air Education and Training
Command, a “doughy moron” for updating
pilot tests to address systemic racism. He also mocked Maj. Gen. Ed
Thomas, head of the Air Force’s recruiting office, for arguing that the
service’s pilot force needs to become more diverse.
Carlson “made a mockery” of the free press and
“repeatedly cherry-picked department policies and used them to destroy DoD as
an institution,” said the first senior DoD official.
One general who clashed with Carlson on social media
during the episode, Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe, had his retirement delayed for
several months while the Army conducted a probe of the exchanges.
While several military leaders sent messages in support
of women in the services without naming Carlson, Donahoe tweeted that the host
“couldn’t be more wrong.” That prompted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to send a
letter to Austin accusing Donahoe and other military leaders of expressing
partisan views.
The saga ended in January with no
action taken against Donahoe, who tweeted
Monday’s news about Carlson’s exit with the message, “I have
thoughts.” Donahoe declined to comment for this story.
Joe Gould contributed to this report.
Connecting the Dots:
John F. Harris is
the editor in chief for Politico, and a trustee at the German
Marshall Fund of the United States (think tank).
German
Marshall Fund of the United States (think tank) was a
funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
Open Society Foundations was a
funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank)
and the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
George Soros is the founder & chairman
for the Open Society Foundations.
Chuck
Hagel was the chairman for the Atlantic Council of the United
States (think tank) and is the secretary for the U.S. Department
of Defense (DoD).
Richard L.
Armitage is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United
States (think tank) and was the assistant secretary for the U.S. Department
of Defense (DoD).
Harold
Brown is an honorary director for the Atlantic Council of the
United States (think tank) and was the secretary for the U.S. Department
of Defense (DoD).
Frank C. Carlucci is
an honorary director for the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank) and was the secretary for the U.S. Department of
Defense (DoD).
Henry E. Catto was
the assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD),
and the chair emeritus for the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank).
Edwin
Dorn was the undersecretary for the U.S. Department of
Defense (DoD) and a director at the Atlantic Council of the United
States (think tank).
Eric S. Edelman was
the undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think
tank).
Jacques S.
Gansler was the undersecretary for the U.S. Department of
Defense (DoD) and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the
United States (think tank).
Stephen J. Hadley was
the undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think
tank).
Paul G. Kaminski was
the undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
and a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think
tank).
Zalmay Khalilzad was
the assistant deputy undersecretary for the U.S. Department of
Defense (DoD) and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the
United States (think tank).
Franklin D.
Kramer was the assistant secretary for the U.S. Department
of Defense (DoD) and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the
United States (think tank).
Judith A. Miller was
the general counsel for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and
is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Philip A. Odeen was
the deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Defense
(DoD) and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United
States (think tank).
Sean
O'Keefe was the comptroller & CFO for the U.S. Department
of Defense (DoD) and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the
United States (think tank).
Walter B. Slocombe was
the undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think
tank).
James R.
Schlesinger was the secretary for the U.S. Department of
Defense (DoD) and is an honorary director at the Atlantic Council
of the United States (think tank).
William H. Taft
IV was the general counsel for the U.S. Department of
Defense (DoD) and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the
United States (think tank).
Togo D. West Jr. was
the general counsel for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think
tank).
Dov S. Zakheim was
the undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think
tank).
William J. Perry was
the secretary for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and is
an honorary director for the Atlantic Council
of the United States (think tank).
Open Society Foundations was a
funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
George Soros is the founder & chairman
for the Open Society Foundations.
John J.
Studzinski is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United
States (think tank) and a papal knighthood knight.
papal knighthood is
an honor conferred by pope for the Roman Catholic Church.
K. Rupert Murdoch is
a papal knighthood knight, his biography title is The
Man Who Owns the News and the chairman for News Corp.
Fox
Broadcasting Company is a subsidiary of News Corp.
Fox
News is a division of the Fox Broadcasting Company.
Media Matters monitors Fox
News.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was
a funder for Media Matters and the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace (think tank).
George Soros is the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society and is the founder & chairman for
the Open Society Foundations.
Open Society Foundations was a
funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
German
Marshall Fund of the United States (think tank) was a
funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
John F. Harris is
a trustee at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (think tank)
and the editor in chief for Politico.
Resources: Past
Research
Trump Blasts Politico:
‘Some of the Most Dishonest People I Have Ever Dealt With (Past Research on Politico)
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2015/11/trump-blasts-politico-some-of-most.html
U.S. Marine Dies in
Afghanistan on New Year's Day (Past Research on the
U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) & Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank))
SUNDAY, JANUARY 5, 2014
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2014/01/us-marine-dies-in-afghanistan-on-new.html
Smaller Bites – Tucker
Carlson, Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, News Corp, Papal Knighthood & Soros
Funding, All Networking (Past Research on Fox News,
Rupert Murdoch, Papal
Knighthood & the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank))
MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2023
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