Former Space Force Commander, LTC Matthew Lohmeier (USAFA ’06) was on Jesse Watters show talking about the Navy’s odd decision to use a drag queen to help recruitment.
Also at the beginning, Watters has thoughtful things to say about it’s not all about the individual, it’s about the mission. Also note the SECDEF’s erroneous answer to Congressman Gaetz.
Watch video:
TRANSCRIPT
Jesse Watters
Lace up the boots, throw on the fatigues. We have the most powerful military in the world–not even close. To get here, it took hundreds of years–hard work, discipline, dedication.
The men and women who protect America, they don’t do it for fame, money or glory. They do it because they think the country’s still worth fighting for.
After they enlist, they get shipped off to boot camp. Lace up the boots, throw on the fatigues, buzz the hair. Imagine how I’d look?
Everybody looks exactly the same. Why? Well, because it’s not about the individual. It’s about the MISSION.
To keep this principle alive, recruiters have sold young men and women on being part of something that’s actually bigger than themselves.
Navy Recruitment Video voiceover
“The call to serve is at once invisible and always present. And for those who choose to answer the call for their country, for their fellow man, for themselves, it is the most powerful force on Earth. America’s Navy: A global force for good.”
Jesse Watters
Guess how old that commercial is? It’s a little over ten years old. And we’ve changed a lot since then. Recruitment took a nosedive. Kids are being told it’s not a country worth fighting for.
You combine that with obesity, drug use and criminal records–getting kind of hard to find people eligible to serve.
Navy’s going to fall–ready?–8000 bodies short of the recruitment goal this year, so they’re tweaking their recruitment strategy.
Meet the new face of the Navy:
Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley
Hey, all you fabulous faces, it’s your girl, Harpy Daniels. I’m sad and sad stands for successful and dangerous. Smart and dedicated. Sassy and dramatic. Strong and determined. Spicy and delicious.
Jesse Watters
So that’s Joshua Kelly, whose stage name is Harpy Daniels. Harpy’s a sailor who says he’s not a man or a woman. And the Navy picked this guy to help recruit cadets.
Harpy advertises how great the Navy is by dressing in drag, putting on makeup, doing his hair and nails, and singing and dancing. If you join the Navy, you can just be like Harpy.
The Navy wants cross dressing sailors manning their ships. If you don’t identify as a man or a woman, but are into the drag queen scene, join the Navy.
That’s the message here.
It’s not about your country.
It’s not about teamwork.
It’s not about the mission.
It’s about YOU and your IDENTITY. You’re the star of the show.
The Navy’s here, and you’re here [above the Navy], attracting all of the attention, because that’s what this is about.
Now, I don’t care what you do in your free time. Harpy can put on women’s clothes. Who cares?
But when it comes to the Navy, it’s not about me, me, me. It’s about the sea and making the sea safe.
You can’t show up to basic training in stilettos and a blonde wig. You need to be in uniform.
Everybody wears the same uniform for a reason. It’s called unit cohesion. It’s about serving something greater than yourself.
But Harpy doesn’t just recruit. Harpy entertains. Here’s Harpy performing a drag show for sailors aboard the USS Ronald Reagan. Yeah. Harpy, he’s given it all he’s got. He loves the spotlight, doesn’t he?
And here’s Harpy on a game show telling the world how he boosts morale on base.
Game show host
Joshua, you once went viral as a drag queen.
Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley
We did. Morale gets very low on deployment, and our MWR put together a lip sync competition. Well, as a drag queen, I put some heels, put some makeup on, and I actually won the lip syncing competition in full drag in the middle of deployment.
Jesse Watters
So this is odd because the Secretary of Defense said there are no drag shows on bases.
Rep. Matt Gaetz
How much taxpayer money should go to fund drag queen story hours on military bases?
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin
You know, drag, drag queen story hours is not something that the Department funds.
Rep. Matt Gaetz
At Nellis Air Force Base, you had the Drag-U-Nellis on June 17. Who funded these things, Mr. Secretary?
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin
Listen, drag shows are not something that the Department of Defense supports or funds.
Rep. Matt Gaetz
Why are they happening on military bases? I just showed you the evidence. Why are they happening?
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin
I will say again, this is not something that we support or fund.
Jesse Watters
Well, either Lloyd Austin is lying or he has no idea what’s going on.
And what’s wrong with the Navy? They looked at what happened with Bud Light and said, Hold my beer?
Harpy’s the Navy’s Dylan. Dylan killed Bud Light sales. What do you think Harpy is going to do to recruitment? And where does that leave us?
Let’s bring in former Space Force Lieutenant Colonel and Commander Matthew Lohmeier. He was forced to resign from the military for criticizing Woke.
What is going on with the Navy? Here we have a statement from the Navy. They acknowledge this is a digital ambassador program, a pilot initiative to explore the digital environment to reach a wide range of potential candidates.
LTC Matthew Lohmeier, USAFA ’06, former USAF/Space Force
Jesse, thanks for having me on.
First off, I think it’s terribly unfortunate that every time the United States military is showing up in the news, it’s over things like this anymore these days. The American people see this and think, this has become our military.
So, first and foremost, I think it’s important that I should say, and I fail to do this often enough, thank you to the good men and women who nobly serve our country in uniform every day of their lives because they show up believing in the greatness of the American ideal and because they’re willing to lay their life on the line in defense of this country.
I have to wonder who it is that our senior military leaders, in fact, think they’re appealing to in the recruiting process by hiring a drag queen as their digital ambassador?
I mean, they’re certainly not incentivizing our men and women in uniform to stick around if they’re decent people who believe in the Western nuclear family, as we’ve often referred to it.
They don’t want their kids around this stuff. They don’t want to show up after hours and participate in this stuff.
It’s just not true that it’s helping our recruiting efforts.
What’s surprising is not that it’s taking place because, in fact, we’ve known for the past couple of years during the Biden administration, this has been taking place more and more.
What’s surprising is that senior military leaders continue to push an agenda like this, despite the fact that it’s hurting our recruiting efforts and it’s hurting our retention, and frankly, it can’t help our lethality and our readiness.
Jesse Watters
Someone had to approve this in the Navy and say, I’m going to put a drag queen out to dance and wiggle, and that’s going to attract recruits to join the Navy. Someone had to think this was a good idea. In what world is that a good idea?
LTC Matthew Lohmeier, USAFA ’06, former USAF/Space Force
Well, this is a really unwise strategy. Frankly, you shouldn’t call it a strategy. It’s unwise decision-making by our senior military leaders.
What also is surprising is I know that we have senior ranking members of our military in all branches of the military who are appalled by this stuff, and yet you’re not hearing from them. You’re calling on the late, so to speak, Lieutenant Colonel Matt Lohmeier.
Why is it that we seem also to have a crisis of courage among our senior military ranks?
But you’re right, there are people that have to make decisions about these things.
What’s disappointing to Americans generally is that this is a partisan issue somehow.
Why is it that Democrats and Republicans on both sides of the aisle and Congress can’t come together and say, hey, overnight we are going to unite and eliminate this kind of thing from our armed forces?
Why is it that it’s conservatives that are speaking up in defense of our troops who can’t, frankly, speak up freely on behalf of themselves?
Conservatives have been interested in reaching out to me in the wake of me being fired from my command to discuss Marxist-rooted critical race theory and the diversity and inclusion industry.
The Democrats, some of whom I requested meetings with, didn’t want to touch these issues with a ten foot pole.
We’ll never solve our problems until Democrats and Republicans, both sides of the political aisle, are able to unite and say, what is dividing our military hurts lethality and readiness.
We have to take this kind of stuff seriously.
Jesse Watters
It sure does. Especially the way things are shaping up in the Pacific with China.
It’s not even about the gender stuff with the drag. You wouldn’t advertise for Navy recruitment with chippendale half naked male dancers. You just wouldn’t do it. It’s not tasteful, and it doesn’t go with the vibe of we’re all in this together.
Thank you very much, Colonel, and we got to run, but we appreciate your insight.
Space Force commander fired for criticizing CRT rips Navy’s turn to drag queens for recruitment (Fox News, 4 May 23)
A former Space Force lieutenant colonel who was relieved of his command in 2021 after criticizing the rise of wokeness and critical race theory principles within the military sounded off on the U.S. Navy’s latest recruitment strategy: showcasing drag performers.
Matthew Lohmeier, who was commander of the 11th Space Warning Squadron in Colorado before he made comments on a podcast critical of Marxism, told Fox News it is sad that whenever the U.S. military makes the news, it is for items like the drag-themed recruitment videos. . . . .
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