Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton questioned Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Thursday over “woke” military training, according to Fox News.
Cotton questioned Austin during a Senate Armed Services Committee. “The military has included the works of critical race theories on its reading list by authors like Ibram Kendi and Robin D’Angelo. Mr. Kendi has written the only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination. Do you agree with that proposition?” Cotton asked.
I’m glad Secretary Austin agrees—Critical Race Theory has no place in our military. pic.twitter.com/Xk1ELnHBPF
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) June 10, 2021
“I’ve not read that, and I certainly don’t agree with what you just said,” Austin responded.
“Do you believe that any member of the military should be treated differently based on their skin color and sex? Again, yes or no will do,” Cotton asked during the hearing, according to Fox News. “No, I do not believe that, and that is why we have diversity equity and inclusion focus in the military,” Austin responded.
Here were my questions to Sec. Austin—these are not trick questions.
– Is our military a fundamentally racist organization?
– Should servicemembers should be treated differently based on race or sex?
– Should race and sex should be the key factor when selecting combat leaders?— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) June 10, 2021
Cotton told Fox News’ Martha Maccallum that if the military allows critical race theory teaching, there will be “growing mistrust between the races [and] the sexes. That will be damaging for morale, and unit cohesion should our troops need to go to battle.” (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Republicans Demand Department Of Education Withdraw Rule Forcing Critical Race Theory In Schools)
Republican Texas Sen. Dan Crenshaw and Senator Cotton announced the creation of a whistleblower website that would allow members of the military to submit anonymous stories of “woke ideology” in the military.
Enough is enough. We won’t let our military fall to woke ideology. We have just launched a whistleblower webpage where you can submit your story. Your complaint will be legally protected, and go to my office and @SenTomCotton.https://t.co/4FstasB7Tm
— Rep. Dan Crenshaw (@RepDanCrenshaw) May 28, 2021
“With written permission, we will anonymously publish egregious complaints on social media and tell the country what’s happening in our military. For too long, progressive Pentagon staffers have been calling the shots for our warfighters, and spineless military commanders have let it happen. Now we are going to expose you.,” Crenshaw wrote on Twitter.