‘Not appropriate’: Senate Republicans chide Navy over drag queen ‘digital ambassador’

The Navy’s determination to companion with a drag queen is proving nearly as common as Bud Light’s Dylan Mulvaney compact.

Senate Republicans are demanding solutions from Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro on showcasing the drag queen as a “digital ambassador,” calling the choice to companion with a social-media influencer on a banned app “not appropriate.”

The letter launched Thursday by 14 Senate Republicans requested for a standing report and spending breakdown on the Navy’s determination to faucet Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, a drag performer whose stage title is Harpy Daniels, as a part of a recruitment initiative.

“We understand the need to reach broadly across the eligible population to improve recruiting outcomes, but we question promotion of social media influencers who post behaviors or activities many Americans deem inappropriate,” mentioned the letter writers, led by Sen. Ted Budd, North Carolina Republican.

The yeoman is proven in TikTok movies on his @harpydaniels account lip-syncing and dancing seductively whereas sporting outrageous feminine wigs, make-up and costumes.

The senators additionally scolded the Navy for selling the usage of TikTok, mentioning that President Biden signed a invoice in December 2022 banning TikTok on authorities gadgets over considerations about Chinese affect.

“This begs the question whether the Navy endorses the personal posts of its influencers and ‘ambassadors,’” the Republicans mentioned. “If so, does the Navy endorse drag shows? Where does the Navy draw the line on promotion of the personal activities of its influencers? Would the Navy enlist burlesque dancers or exotic dancers to reach possible recruits?”

They concluded that “such activity is not appropriate for promotion in a professional workplace or the United States military.”

Others criticizing the choice to focus on the sailor’s drag persona embrace former army personnel, notably former Navy SEAL Robert J. O’Neill, finest generally known as the person who shot and killed Osama bin Laden.

“Alright. The U.S. Navy is now using an enlisted sailor Drag Queen as a recruiter. I’m done,” tweeted Mr. O’Neill. “China is going to destroy us. YOU GOT THIS NAVY. I can’t believe I fought for this bull———t.”

The Defense Department responded to the uproar Thursday by stressing that the Navy sailor was a part of a “pilot outreach effort” referred to as the Navy Digital Ambassador Program, not a proper and finalized recruiting initiative.

The program ran from October by March.

“It was a pilot outreach effort. It was not a recruiting effort,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh advised reporters. “The program has concluded. The Navy is evaluating the program and how it will exist in the future.”

That distinction could not make a distinction to critics alarmed by the woke trajectory of the army, which has been accused of prioritizing social-justice initiatives on the expense of readiness and lethality.

“It’s surprising not that it’s taking place, because in fact we’ve known for the past couple of years during the Biden administration that this has been taking place more and more,” former Space Force Col. Matthew Lohmeier mentioned on Fox News Channel’s “Jesse Watters Primetime.”

“What’s surprising is that senior officials continue to push an agenda like this despite the fact that it’s hurting our recruiting efforts and it’s hurting our retention,” he mentioned.

The Navy introduced in April that it expects to fall in need of its recruitment aim this fiscal 12 months by about 6,000 enlistees, DOD News reported.

Yeoman Kelley took on his “homophobic” critics in a Wednesday put up on Instagram, saying “Haters only Hate when you are winning.”

“LGBTQ+ People never could serve open because of DADT [Don’t Ask Don’t Tell],” the sailor mentioned. “Now that we can, you can see who the Homophobic and Transphobic people are.”

Yeoman Kelley has additionally placed on drag exhibits throughout deployments. Photos from a 2018 NBC Out report present the sailor performing in girls’s clothes and make-up in 2017 on the USS Ronald Reagan.

Ms. Singh mentioned the Defense Department is “incredibly proud of those who decide to serve – that’s every young American who decides to serve and take the oath [and] put their lives on the line in defense of our country.”

Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, predicted Thursday that utilizing drag queens as digital ambassadors would backfire on the army.

“The bottom line is that the Navy, like most of our services under President Biden, faces a recruiting crisis,” Mr. Cotton mentioned on Fox News Channel. “But using a drag queen ambassador is not a solution of that crisis, it’s an example of a major cause of the crisis.”