US defense secretary slams Ted Cruz for claiming Biden wants a 'woke, emasculated military'

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has been attacking the Biden Administration for promoting a "woke" or politically correct military. But Gen. Lloyd Austin, Biden's secretary of defense, pushed back aggressively against Cruz's claims during an interview with CNN on Memorial Day 2021.

"Perhaps a woke, emasculated military is not the best idea," Cruz recently tweeted.

But 67-year-old Austin told CNN that the U.S. military will never be "soft," saying, "I will not lose one minute of sleep about what the Chinese leadership is saying or what (Russian President) Vladimir Putin is saying. What I will focus on, and what I am focused on, is the defense of this nation, and making sure that we have what's needed to be successful."

Cruz has been attacking a series of U.S. Army recruitment videos called "The Calling," claiming that military recruitment efforts under the Biden Administration are promoting diversity over military preparedness. But Austin dismissed such claims as nonsense.

Austin told CNN, "I think we're doing a great job in terms of recruiting the right kinds of people, providing access to people from every corner, every walk of life in this country. As long as you're fit and you can qualify, there's a place for you on this team."

Austin also said that governments that are adversarial to the United States, including Russia under Putin and the government in Mainland China, "would like to capitalize on" the type of "talking points" that Cruz is promoting.