Marine unit apologizes for tweets on Tucker Carlson remarks

A U.S. Marine unit apologized Saturday for tweets defending female service members, which it sent out in response to Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s criticism of Pentagon policy changes announced last week that are intended to attract more women to the military.

As social media users discussed the controversy involving Carlson’s comments, the II Marine Expeditionary Force’s Information Group (MIG) official account tweeted in response to one commenter, “Come back when you’ve served and been pregnant,” according to USA Today.  

The tweet has since been deleted, along with another defending U.S. Master Gunnery Sgt. Scott Stalker, who had denounced Carlson’s comments.

“We are human and we messed up,” the MIG posted. “We intended to speak up for female Marines and it was an effort to support them. They are a crucial part to our corps and we need them to know that. We will adjust fire and ensure the utmost professionalism in our tweets.”

“We’ve strayed away from our brand and realize that,” it added in a follow-up tweet. “Our standard practices will be in effect and you can count on us to correct our mistake going forward.”

We are human and we messed up. We intended to speak up for female Marines and it was an effort to support them. They are a crucial part to our corps and we need them to know that. We will adjust fire and ensure the utmost professionalism in our tweets.

— II MEF Information Group (@iimigofficial) March 13, 2021

We’ve strayed away from our brand and realize that. Our standard practices will be in effect and you can count on us to correct our mistake going forward.

— II MEF Information Group (@iimigofficial) March 13, 2021

Carlson faced backlash from several military leaders after blasting the Defense Department last week for its new efforts to accommodate women in the military, including maternity flight suits and permitting more hairstyles under official grooming standards. 

“So we’ve got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits. Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. It’s a mockery of the U.S. military,” Carlson said on his prime-time show.

“While China’s military becomes more masculine as it has assembled the world’s largest navy, our military needs to become as Joe Biden says more feminine, whatever feminine means anymore,” he added.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby had said last week that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed “revulsion” to the comments. 

“What we absolutely won’t do is take personnel advice from a talk show host, or the Chinese military, and maybe those folks feel like they have something to prove, that’s on them,” Kirby told reporters.

The Fox News host later responded to the criticism by calling out “woke generals.”  

“We were almost rattled. Then we realized if the woke generals treat us like they’ve treated the Taliban, we’ll be fine. Twenty years later, the Taliban are still here,” Carlson said Friday.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) sent a letter to Austin on Sunday requesting a meeting with the Commandant of the Marine Corps to discuss the “campaign” attacking Carlson.

“This spectacle risks politicizing the military after several centuries of efforts to keep military officials out of domestic affairs, undermining civil-military relations by having the military take a side in a contentious cultural dispute, and the perception that military leaders are happily weaponizing the institution against political critics of the sitting administration,” Cruz said. 

“This kind of behavior, while perhaps typical in a military-controlled Third World country, is completely unacceptable in the United States of America,” the Texas senator added.

—Updated Tuesday at 10:37 a.m.