Award-winning journalist Lara Logan slammed Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) on Tuesday following his suggestion on CNN airwaves that white male National Guard troops in particular could pose a threat to President-elect Joe Biden’s life.
“You know, I was thinking, the [National] Guard is 90 some odd percent I believe male, only about 20 percent of white males voted for Biden,” Cohen said, speaking to CNN’s Jim Sciutto. “You got to figure that in the Guard which is predominately more conservative, that I see that on my social media and we know it. There’s probably not more than 25 percent of the people that are there protecting us who voted for Biden. The other 75 percent are in the class that would be the large class of folks who might want to do something. And there were military people and police who took oaths to defend the Constitution and to protect and defend who didn’t do it, who were in the insurrection. So, it does concern me … ”
Fox Nation’s Logan, who formerly served as chief foreign affairs correspondent for CBS News and a correspondent for “60 Minutes,” admonished Cohen for his comments about white males serving their country.
“I was a journalist on the battlefields of Iraq & Afghanistan for more than a decade,” Logan said. “I watched many of these ‘white men’ die there, right beside black, Hispanic & Asian men & women of every color. None of them cared about race – just each other & this country. Shame on all of you.”
In a follow-up tweet, the journalist underscored the sacrifices made by all service members, even the “white” ones Cohen appeared to disparage.
“To all those giddy with glee in the mad rush to condemn the ‘white men’ of the [National] Guard as ‘domestic terrorists’ remember this: it isn’t yet a crime to be white or a man. 70+ % the U.S. population is white,” Logan wrote.
“They’ve bled & died for you along with all races, united without hate,” she emphasized.
To all those giddy with glee in the mad rush to condemn the “white men” of the Nat Guard as “domestic terrorists” remember this: it isn’t yet a crime to be white or a man.
70+ % the U.S. population is white. They’ve bled & died for you along with all races, united without hate.— Lara Logan (@laralogan) January 19, 2021
On Monday night, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott (TX) ripped into the so-called “loyalty” screening of tens of thousands of National Guards troops to secure Biden’s inauguration.
Linking to a piece from The Washington Post concerning the excess screening of 25,000 National Guard troops, Abbott posted: “This is the most offensive thing I’ve ever heard. No one should ever question the loyalty or professionalism of the Texas National Guard.”
Notably, service members are already screened for ties to extremism or other potential flags. Thus, the latest screenings seem to be excessive and perhaps linked to suspicion directed at supporters of President Donald Trump after the Capitol riot. The Associated Press in a Monday report on the screening, for example, named supporters of the president as potential threats to a Biden inauguration.
“I authorized more than 1,000 to go to DC. I’ll never do it again if they are disrespected like this,” warned Abbott.
The AP reported Monday that U.S. defense officials have said they are conducting the vetting process out of concern about an “insider attack or other threat” from service members involved in securing the inauguration.
The “threats against Biden’s inauguration,” AP underscored, “have been fueled by supporters of President Donald Trump, far-right militants, white supremacists and other radical groups”:
Insider threats have been a persistent law enforcement priority in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But in most cases, the threats are from homegrown insurgents radicalized by al-Qaida, the Islamic State group or similar groups. In contrast, the threats against Biden’s inauguration have been fueled by supporters of President Donald Trump, far-right militants, white supremacists and other radical groups. Many believe Trump’s baseless accusations that the election was stolen from him, a claim that has been refuted by many courts, the Justice Department and Republican officials in key battleground states.
Related: Democrat Steve Cohen Suggests White Male National Guardsmen Could Pose Threat To Biden’s Life
