© Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagePentagon Press Secretary John Kirby at the Pentagon. Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Image
- The Pentagon expressed disgust following Fox News host Tucker Carlson's recent comments.
- Carlson recently claimed Biden is making a "mockery" of the military by making it "more feminine."
- The top Pentagon spokesman said the military won't be taking advice from a talk-show host.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
The top Pentagon spokesman said Thursday that the defense secretary is disgusted by Fox News host Tucker Carlson's comments claiming that President Joe Biden is making the military "more feminine" and that doing so is a "mockery."
Following Biden's remarks on International Women's Day highlighting efforts to make the military more accommodating for women service members, Carlson accused the president of "feminizing" the US armed forces while overlooking other pressing challenges, like China.
"So we've got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits," Carlson said. "Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. It's a mockery of the US military."
Carlson added that "while China's military becomes more masculine as it's assembled the world's largest navy, our military needs to become, as Joe Biden says, more feminine."
Several Army generals, as well as the Sergeant Major of the Army, the service's top enlisted member, have called out Carlson, arguing that he "couldn't be more wrong" about women in the military.
Carlson also faced backlash from other parts of the military, to include US Space Command Senior Enlisted Leader Master Gunnery Sgt. Scott Stalker, who called Carlson's comments "drama TV."
"I'll remind everyone that his opinion, which he has a right to, is based off of actually zero days of service in the armed forces," Stalker said.
Speaking to reporters during an off-camera discussion at the Pentagon, chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby characterized Carlson's remarks as "ridiculous," adding that the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin "shares the revulsion of so many others to what Mr. Carlson said."
"We still have a lot of work to do to make our military more inclusive," he said, according to reporters present. "What we absolutely won't do is take personnel advice from a talk-show host or the Chinese military."
Kirby added that "maybe those people think they have something to prove."
Insider reached out to Fox News for comment on or clarification of Carlson's comments but has not yet received a response.
Disclosure: This reporter previously worked for the Daily Caller News Foundation, a non-profit news organization affiliated with Tucker Carlson.