Republicans say DEI initiative in the military has hampered recruitment, created internal division and weakened U.S. forces
Jen Psaki on Sunday defended the Biden administration’s push to expand diversity initiatives in the military while attempting to blame Republicans who oppose the efforts for politicizing the Pentagon.
During Sunday's episode of MSNBC’s "Inside with Jen Psaki," the former White House press secretary and current MSNBC host accused GOP lawmakers of pushing the "right-wing conspiracy" that the U.S. military has embraced a leftist-woke ideology and indoctrinated servicemembers with mandatory diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) trainings.
Psaki told viewers that Republicans are overreacting to the DEI effort because the trainings, which critics blame for creating division within the military, hampering recruitment and weakening U.S. forces, are "just one hour" long.
AMERICANS VIEW MILITARY AS OVERLY POLITICIZED; HALF THE COUNTRY CONCERNED THE PENTAGON IS TOO ‘WOKE’
Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. (Screenshot/NBC/MeetThePress)
"Another right-wing conspiracy theory is that the U.S. Military is a left-wing organization, indoctrinating troops with hundreds of hours of DEI training. The actual truth? The right-wing punching bag, diversity and inclusion training, is just one hour, one hour of initial military training for infantry soldiers. And it’s during the same period of training time that they spend 160 hours on rifle marksmanship," Psaki said.
The MSNBC Sunday show host then took aim at Republican Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who has emerged as an outspoken critic on the issue and has emphasized the need for legislation to roll back President Biden's "woke" Pentagon policies.
Tuberville and other Republicans say that the DEI initiatives injected the military with "woke ideology at the expense of our ability to combat China" and have distracted troops from focussing on their ultimate goal of protecting and defending the country.
But Psaki went so far as to insist that it is actually Republican senators like Tuberville - not Democrats - who are guilty of politicizing the military by speaking out on the issue.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., stopped over 200 military promotions in the Senate over the Pentagon's post-Dobbs abortion policy. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"Republicans like Tommy Tuberville love to claim politics and wokeness is affecting the readiness of our military. But right now, the only person politicizing the military seems to be him," she claimed.
In a Fox News op-ed last week, Tuberville wrote that the left has been relentless in turning the military "from the world’s greatest killing machine to just another outfit for liberal social engineering."
"It’s no surprise confidence in our military has already dropped by double-digits since Joe Biden took office….the most political Pentagon in our history is also the least successful in our history. That is not a coincidence," he added.
SEN TUBERVILLE ABORTION PROTESTS STALLS MILITARY PROMOTIONS
"With so much at stake, and with so much ground already lost, conservatives in Congress have no choice but to stand and fight against a politicized Pentagon before we look back with nostalgia on the days when the American people trusted its military," Tuberville wrote.
Psaki's monologue comes after The House of Representatives narrowly passed the annual defense policy bill, with most Democrats opposing the legislation that Republicans championed as a way to reverse Biden's "woke" Pentagon policies.
The Pentagon in Washington, DC, on May 10, 2023, in an aerial view. (DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)
Democrats largely rejected the bill due to controversial amendments that would curb the Pentagon’s abortion travel reimbursement policy, transgender medical care and DEI programs throughout the military. They accused House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., of pandering to the most conservative Republicans with the amendments that they said are more about the "culture war" than about military readiness.
Republicans say the amendments will refocus the military on its mission and will prevent the further politicization of the Pentagon.
The Senate is expected to take up its own version of the bill next week.
Fox News' Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
Yael Halon is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to
