The CIA is plowing ahead with its series of new recruitment ads aimed at millennials, releasing a new video ad last week despite the scoffs and criticism with which the previous installments were met.
The latest “Humans of CIA” video ad features a man who says he is an “agency librarian” for the CIA and describes his struggles with being gay and the acceptance he encountered at the CIA.
“Growing up gay in a small Southern town, I was lucky to have a wonderful and accepting family. I always struggled with the idea that I may not be able to discuss my personal life at work,” the man in the CIA ad says. “Imagine my surprise when I was taking my oath at the CIA and I noticed a rainbow on then-Director Brennan’s lanyard.”
NEW CIA RECRUITMENT AD:
“Growing up gay in a small Southern town, I always struggled with the idea that I may not be able to discuss my personal life at work. Imagine my surprise when I noticed a rainbow on CIA Director Brennan’s lanyard.”pic.twitter.com/fZ9rgCUkLJ
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 7, 2021
“Officers from the top-down work hard to ensure that every single person, whatever their gender, gender identity, race, disability, or sexual orientation, can bring their entire self to work every day,” the man continues.
One of the agency’s previous ads was mocked on Twitter, including by several GOP members of Congress.
“I am a woman of color. I am a mom. I am a cisgender millennial who has been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. I am intersectional, but my existence is not a box-checking exercise,” said a woman in the earlier ad.
“I did not sneak into CIA,” the woman says, adding that she “earned my way in, and I earned my way up the ranks … I am educated, qualified, and competent, and sometimes I struggle.”
The CIA also has an Instagram series called “Love at Langley,” part of the “Humans of CIA” campaign, where it has been documenting the stories of three couples who work together at the agency.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) accused the CIA of working to develop its wokeness credentials rather than focusing on its intelligence operations.
“Instead of focusing on the real international threats from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea or the crisis he created on the Southern border, President Biden is diverting CIA resources to support radical leftists in their woke culture war that is tearing America apart,” Johnson said.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) ripped the ad in a tweet, saying, “If you’re a Chinese communist, or an Iranian Mullah, or Kim Jong Un…would this scare you? We’ve come a long way from Jason Bourne.”
“If China plans on attacking the United States with misgendered pronouns and microaggressions, the CIA will be ready to fight back,” Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) said, calling the ad an “embarrassment.”
The CIA has pushed back on the criticism of its new approach to recruitment, telling Fox News that the ads have actually been working and attracting new recruits to the agency.
“2020 was a standout recruitment year for CIA despite the pandemic. Our 2021 incoming class is the third-largest in a decade,” the agency said.