Of all the areas of our nation permeated by wokeness, the military is perhaps the most dangerously affected, especially when there's distractions from fighting our enemy. Under President Joe Biden, the military has been more so concerned with promoting abortion, pronouns, Pride Month, and Critical Race Theory (CRT). Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin just recently banned drag shows on military bases, a move that was perhaps too little too late. Recruitment is failing and too many young people don't meet the standards, to which the Pentagon thinks the answer is to make things more woke.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is not looking to let the military remain in such a way as he runs for president, promising things will be different if he's elected. DeSantis, to supporters and critics alike, is known for attacking woke entities head on. He's not merely looking to bring the fight to the indoctrination of children in schools through Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Offices of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), but to the military as well.
DeSantis also holds the distinction of having served in the military. And, if elected, he'd be the first war veteran who served in a war to be president since George H.W. Bush. DeSantis had a commission in the U.S. Navy as a JAG officer. He also deployed to Iraq, where he earned the Bronze Star Medal for Meritorious Service and the Iraq Campaign Medal. DeSantis looks to use that experience to fix the military, not just to get rid of wokeness, but also "rejuvenate morale."
Sharing his military experience while promising to do something about the woke military is one of the many key messages he's shared on the campaign trail. One of the most recent examples came during a telephone town hall with grassroot supporters on Monday night.
Almost from the start of that call, DeSantis mentioned the military, in the context of how "everyone understands the country is going in the wrong direction," with one issues being a "weak military." As part of running to counteract that "choice" to put America into decline, DeSantis offered the hopeful idea of how "I think that the future is is what we make of it," opening up the possibility to reverse course. When it comes his plan to be "very mission-focussed on all the big issues that we care about," that includes focusing on "ending woke ideology" and "restoring the military."
DeSantis also referenced his military experience when taking questions from supporters, including one to do with how DeSantis is "best prepared to be president." In discussing how he would be the first veteran elected as president who served in a war since Bush was elected in 1988, he also raised "how the military culture has changed," from the perspective of "somebody that's worth the uniform."
And, as someone who has served, DeSantis looks to take action. Speaking of how that was "a plus," it's "because we're going to need to really overhaul what's going on in our armed forces," and from someone who knows what it takes. That involves what DeSantis sees is a need "to restore the integrity that used to be the hallmark," and a need to "get the politicization out of there," and DeSantis believes he has "a good perspective on being able to do that."
While DeSantis is "proud to be a veteran," and is "thankful for everyone else's service," he also lamented how "I also don't like hearing from other veterans, that they would not want their kids or grandkids to join today's military given all the stuff that's going on." DeSantis emphasized the need to change that as well, something he can also get done.
Such comments weren't addressed as a one-time occurrence during the Monday call. They also have been a common refrain whenever he speaks about his military service and how he would improve the military. DeSantis dedicated much of his Memorial Day message to speaking to appreciation for and the sanctity of serving in the military during his address at the governor's mansion barbecue. He's made similar remarks during media interviews as well as when the governor has addressed crowds, as he did in Iowa on May 30, not long after he officially launched his campaign.
The military, DeSantis has shared, is one of those institutions he feels "we need to restore integrity to," as the Daily Mail reported about that Iowa speech. "We look at our Military now and we see them getting caught up in political ideology, gender pronouns, talking about global warming," DeSantis said. "We need to reorient things like the Military back to its core mission," going on to ask "is it any wonder why recruiting has suffered? People don't want to be part of a woke military. They want to be a part of the military that has his eyes on the prize," DeSantis added.
A separate but nevertheless major talking point about the military is how the COVID vaccine mandate forced out service members, in addition to hurting recruitment.
Earlier this month, DeSantis gave an interview with the Pulse of New Hampshire (WTSN) in which he discussed how people are "not willing to [volunteer] as much. It also "really hurt morale" when "the military penalize people" over COVID vaccines. Members of the military, DeSantis lamented, had to make the choice "either do something that you just disagree with or leave the service," resulting in many leaving, and with no back pay.
As part of his plan for seeing recruitment increasing, something he said he "guarantee[d]" due to his "refocus on mission," DeSantis also spoke of bringing back people "that were discriminated against based on on this COVID vax," along with back pay, which DeSantis said should "increase morale as well."
Such a response from the interview was very similar to DeSantis' remarks in Salix, Iowa, on May 31.
During an interview with Brian Kilmeade a few days later, DeSantis referred to how "people are very concerned about the state of the military," including when it comes to seeing "a lot of warriors being driven off with the COVID backed mandate," something he called "a huge disaster."
The military vaccine mandate didn't end until late last December, as a result of Biden signing the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023. Ending the vaccine mandate was a hard-fought effort from Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), rather than from Biden and the Democrats, as the White House had opposed ending the mandate.
DeSantis has long fought vaccine mandates as governor, in addition to other COVID policies infringing on individual freedoms, such as lockdowns and mask mandates.
The COVID vaccine mandate is just one of many issues that DeSantis takes with Biden's handling of the military and with Biden's handling of the country overall. The problem with the military under this commander-in-chief again has a lot to do with falling recruitment numbers, which DeSantis attributes, as he did on an interview with "Fox and Friends" from May 29 to "a lot of emphasis now on political ideologies, things like gender pronouns. I see a lot about things like DEI," which he offered has "
DeSantis isn't the only one to have raised concerns with a woke military. Last November, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) released a report raising concerns with "Woke Warfighters." Roy endorsed DeSantis for president in March, over two months before the governor declared. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has also stood up to the woke military on the Pentagon's illegal abortion policies by holding up nominees until there's a vote on barring the DoD from spending taxpayer money on service members traveling for abortions, as well as their paid time off.
Former and potentially future President Donald Trump, who is presently DeSantis' top rival in the Republican presidential primary, also recently mentioned concerns with the woke military in a video message shared over TruthSocial. It came in the context of Trump mentioning other issues and concerns, as the news had just been revealed that he would be indicted for charges to do with his handling of classified documents.