By The FirstThings got heated during an exchange between Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a House hearing on the 2023 defense budget request; Gaetz blasted Austin for failures in Afghanistan and Ukraine, suggesting that the military may be spending too much time peddling wokeism.
“So, I guess I’m wondering, what in the $773 billion that you’re requesting today is going to help you make assessments that are accurate in the face of so many blown calls?” Gaetz asked, later adding “While everyone else is in the world seems to be developing capabilities and being more strategic, we got time to embrace critical race theory at West Point, embrace socialism at the National Defense University, to do mandatory pronoun training.”
“You guys said that Russia would overrun Ukraine in 36 days. You said that the Taliban would be kept at bay for months. You totally blew those calls,” Gaetz said. “And maybe we would be better at them if the National Defense University worked a little more on strategy and a little less on wokeism.”
Watch the exchange below:
