Marines backtrack after huge fallout for attacking Tucker Carlson: 'Unit is currently reviewing their internal procedures'
The U.S. Marine Corps is walking back a now-viral social media post in which an official Marine Twitter account attacked Fox News host Tucker Carlson over his remarks in recent report on military leadership.
What's a very brief history here?
On Thursday, Carlson discussed the Pentagon and its apparent priorities after it announced its new creation — flight suits for pregnant women.
Last week, President Joe Biden made new uniforms accommodations for women serving in the military.
Carlson said that the announcement was interesting, considering the ongoing tensions between China and the United States.
In response to Carlson's remarks, the II Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group blasted Carlson in several since-deleted Twitter posts on Friday.
One said, "What it looks like in today's armed forces @TuckerCarlson. Get right before you get left, boomer."
The tweet accompanied a photo of a female soldier carrying another female soldier.
In a second post, the account demanded a person who defended Carlson to "come back when you've served and been pregnant."
What are the details?
A spokesperson for the Marines told the Washington Examiner that the posts were not "executed according to the standards of decorum."
"The unit is currently reviewing their internal procedures for social media posts," the spokesperson revealed. "While the post was intended to show support for women in the military, it was not executed according to the standards of decorum expected on the Marine Corps' social media platforms."
Anything else?
Following the social media post, Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) blasted the move as "unconscionable," as previously reported by Blaze Media.
"Unconscionable that active duty military members — in uniform and from official military social media platforms — have leveled personal political attacks on a media figure," Crawford said. "This is no longer the same military my grandfather, my father, my uncles, my brothers, and I served."
Former Rep. Scott Taylor (R-Va.) added, "These political tweets to a civilian from official accounts, one from a senior enlisted in official uniform at official command are absolutely unacceptable & appalling. Marines need to be held accountable & there needs to be a @USMC wide message against this."
"As a female Marine that served in II MEF, this attack on a reporter's free speech from an official account is completely unacceptable," added Michele Perez Exner, who works for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also wrote an impassioned memo to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday in which he demanded to meet with Marine Commandant David H. Berger over the inflammatory statements.
"Under Biden, the military is launching political attacks to intimidate Tucker Carlson & other civilians who criticize their policy decisions," Cruz wrote. "Officials in uniform are being used for the campaign. I've demanded a meeting with the Commandant of the USMC to put a stop to it."
Immediately following the criticism, the Twitter account deleted the offending tweets and apologized.
The apology said, "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."
@BillFOXLA We are human and we messed up. We intended to speak up for female Marines and it was an effort to suppor… https://t.co/pr4LR6yydQ— II MEF Information Group (@II MEF Information Group)1615672969.0