Milley Rattles Gaetz While Blasting GOP’s ‘Critical Race Theory’ Bogeyman Du Jour

UNITED STATES - JUNE 23: General Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testifies during the House Armed Services Committee hearing titled “The Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Budget Request from the Department of Defense,” in Rayburn Building on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
UNITED STATES - JUNE 23: General Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testifies during the House Armed Services Committee hearing titled The Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Budget Re... UNITED STATES - JUNE 23: General Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testifies during the House Armed Services Committee hearing titled The Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Budget Request from the Department of Defense, in Rayburn Building on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Gen. Mark Milley, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, defended teaching so-called “Critical Race Theory” to members of the military during a congressional hearing before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) yielded some of her time to Milley during the hearing so that the Joint Chiefs of Staff chair could respond to the GOP’s “Critical Race Theory” hysteria that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) had raised earlier in the hearing.

Milley fiercely defended the academic concept of Critical Race Theory, which is different from the caricature that conservatives have created. He argued that those in uniform should be “open-minded” as well as “widely read.”

“The United States military academy is a university,” Milley said. “And it is important that we train and understand … white rage. And I’m white, and I want to understand it.”

Milley then alluded to the deadly Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6 that then-President Trump helped incite following his appearance at a “Stop the Steal Rally” when he urged a crowd of his supporters to “fight like hell” to overturn the election results on the day of the joint session of Congress certifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

“What is it that caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the Constitution of the United States of America? What caused that?” Milley said. “I want to find that out. I want to maintain an open mind here and I do want to analyze it.”

Milley stressed the importance for military leaders to understand Critical Race Theory academically, saying that he has read up on Mao Tse Tung, Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin.

“That doesn’t make me a communist. So what is wrong with … having some situational understanding about the country for which we are here to defend?” Milley said.

Milley added that he finds fear-mongering surrounding the theory “offensive;” fear-mongering that has been seized on by the GOP as its latest culture war.

“I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military, our general officers … of being, quote, ‘woke,’ because we’re studying some theories that are out there,” Milley said, prompting Gaetz to visibly shake his head.

Milley’s remarks come amid right-wing outrage over “Critical Race Theory” — an academic and legal term that conservatives have appropriated and hijacked as part of the GOP’s culture wars.

Conservatives in recent weeks have attempted to make “Critical Race Theory” a national issue as pundits and right-wing pressure groups push for state legislatures to ban the concept from being taught in public schools. They’ve also fixated on the 1619 Project — a New York Times magazine effort attempting to reframe U.S. history around the consequences of slavery and the accomplishments of Black people. During his presidency, former President Trump raised the way in which America teaches race as a flashpoint grievance for Republicans in a since-rescinded executive order.

Watch Milley’s remarks below:

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for grack grack says:

    I saw the video clip posted by WaPo. I could see Milley thinking about punching Gaetz right in his marshmallow center. Glorious.

  2. Gaetz doesn’t want CRT taught in schools because he doesn’t understand it enough to help his dates with their homework.

  3. General Milley could “rattle” that little shit, excuse me I mean congressman, Gaetz clear across the room with one hand and not wrinkle his uniform.

  4. With apologies for the longwinded eloquence, this is downright fucking awesome.

  5. “What is it that caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the Constitution of the United States of America? What caused that?” Milley asked.

    The GOP.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

151 more replies

Participants

Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for eldonlazar Avatar for teenlaqueefa Avatar for sniffit Avatar for psudawnc Avatar for clearwater Avatar for danny Avatar for sfaw Avatar for tena Avatar for dommyluc Avatar for bodie1 Avatar for brian512 Avatar for coimmigrant Avatar for cub_calloway Avatar for lmcallister Avatar for 19tibekius6 Avatar for counterlife Avatar for timorwig Avatar for bcgister Avatar for heartflow Avatar for trustywoods Avatar for dicktater Avatar for visionseeker Avatar for Paracelsus

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: