Hegseth pulls promotion of admiral
Secretary of State Pete Hegseth just stirred a pretty big pot in the liberal world.
Hegseth reportedly pulled the promotion of an admiral because the admiral was allowing drag shows on his carrier.
This is surely going to send the Democrats off the cliff.
Drag Shows on Bases
In March 2023, reports broke that military officials were going to be called before Congress over reports that drag shows were taking place on bases and ships.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Army Gen. Mark A. Milley was adamant during the hearing that he did not support this.
He stated, "I'd like to take a look at those myself and find out what actually is going on there because that's the first I'm hearing about that kind of stuff.
"I'd like to take a look at those because I don't agree with those. I think those things shouldn't be happening."
Outlawed
In June 2023, reports surfaced that the Pentagon was officially banning these shows.
Speaker Johnson (R-LA) addressed the issue, stating, “China is building hypersonic missiles while the U.S. Secretary of Defense is being forced to explain why there are drag shows on our military bases.
“The fact that these events were scheduled once again calls into question the priorities of our military’s leadership.”
Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed the report, stating, “Hosting these types of events in federally funded facilities is inconsistent with regulations regarding the use of DoD resources.”
Benched
Rear Adm. Michael “Buzz” Donnelly was supposed to be taking over as the commander of the 7th fleet, which would have given him a promotion to three-star admiral, but those plans have been shelved for the time being.
Trump nominated Donnelly for the position in June, but Hegseth reportedly pulled it after reports were made that Donnelly had allowed drag shows to take place on his carrier between 2016 and 2018.
For the record, the Pentagon did not confirm this was the reason why Donnelly was pulled, but it seems pretty obvious considering the anti-DEI push by the administration. Will Thibeau, director of the American Military Project at the Claremont Institute think tank, agrees, stating, “He was an otherwise qualified admiral who sanctioned Navy-sponsored drag shows [with cash prizes] on the aircraft carrier he commanded. He wasn’t in drag, but he allowed the gross politicization of the Navy. Enough.”
I agree with this one, as I think the admiral should have shown better judgment. This is not the type of thing that should be forced on anyone. It was a bad call, and now he is paying the ultimate career price for his decision. Here is my question, though… when this took place, it happened during Trump’s first administration, so why are we only now finding out about this?
