Army Ranger veteran Sean Parnell defended ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson amid reports that Pentagon officials had been cheering his exit.
Parnell, who returned home from Afghanistan with both the visible and invisible injuries of war, took particular issue with a POLITICO report which asserted that Carlson had routinely attacked and maligned the United States military. Rather, he argued, the popular host had attempted to hold the military accountable.
“This is BS. Tucker never bagged on our military. He demanded accountability of the senior leadership who gave us the disaster of Iraq & Afghanistan. Who to date, have not been held accountable for anything,” Parnell tweeted. “Thousands of Americans dead. Wounded. Trillions wasted. And for what?”
This is BS. Tucker never bagged on our military.
He demanded accountability of the senior leadership who gave us the disaster of Iraq & Afghanistan. Who to date, have not been held accountable for anything.
Thousands of Americans dead. Wounded. Trillions wasted. And for what? https://t.co/F0Lauvc8eb— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) April 26, 2023
The report in question, published Tuesday evening by POLITICO, alleged that Carlson often used the military as a “punching bag” — citing his criticisms of things like diversity politics in military leadership and the furor over maternity flight suits as proof that he had done so.
For that reason, according to POLITICO’s sources, military leadership at the Pentagon had been happy to see him go. “Good riddance,” one said, while another added, “We’re a better country without him bagging on our military every night in front of hundreds of thousands of people.”
Carlson did criticize diversity politics in the military on a number of occasions – largely to make the point that while other nations like China were building infrastructure and weapons and training their soldiers in strategy and combat, people like Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley were worrying about how white supremacy might be impacting training.
He criticized President Joe Biden for boasting about finally allowing women to wear ponytails while in uniform and making maternity flight suits available, arguing that prioritizing things like that while other nations were preparing for war was trivializing what the American military was supposed to do.
“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.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP
In an op-ed published by Fox News in 2021, Carlson expanded on the topic – making it clear that what he was mocking was not the military, but Biden’s influence over its priorities.
“Despite all the huffing and puffing, a lot of things that presidents do are quickly forgotten. Some of the things he promises won’t happen; others are just symbolic ring-kissing, designed to appease the interest groups that got him elected. But some of Biden’s changes are very real, and they matter very much. Nothing matters more than what Joe Biden does to the U.S. military,” Carlson wrote. “Our military is the last functional institution of any size in this country. It’s the last institution most people trust and respect. It is by far the most important. A weak military means no country. Period.”
He went on to point to recent decisions indicating that the military would pay for sex reassignment surgeries of enlisted members, arguing that could only happen because those running the military had apparently forgotten why it existed in the first place.
“Here’s a reminder: the U.S. military exists to fight and win wars. That is its only purpose. The U.S. military is not an NGO. It is not a vehicle for achieving equity. It is not a social experiment. It’s definitely not an employment agency; nobody has a God-given right to work in the military,” Carlson continued. “If you ever hear this show whine that Delta Force is discriminating against paunchy, 51-year-old cable news hosts, you’ll know we’ve lost the thread. It’s not about us, it’s about the country. Making people feel valued and included is a good thing, but it is not the point of the U.S. military. It cannot be the point of the U.S. military, or else we’re done.”