Wesley Clark, a retired United States Army general, said he believes Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s protest of the Department of Defense over abortion is “extremely damaging.”
Speaking with CNN’s Kate Bolduan on Tuesday, the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe contended that the Alabama lawmaker’s hold-up of hundreds of military promotions was a national security risk.
“We have seen holds in the past on individual officers’ promotions. But this is something entirely different,” Clark said. “This is a wholesale hold on the normal summertime rotation and retirement that happens at the top of the armed forces.”
Clark also took issue with the reason behind Tuberville’s blockade — a new Pentagon policy that reimburses female service members seeking an abortion outside states they are stationed in where it is banned.
Tuberville has also highlighted controversial diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the Armed Forces and a proposal that would allow abortion procedures to be administered on military bases.
“We’re really bringing in domestic politics in such a strong way now into the military arena,” Clark lamented. “You know, the military is nonpolitical. We serve the commander in chief, whoever he is, whatever party she is, whatever party they are.”
His concerns parrot those of three Biden administration officials who wrote in an opinion editorial Monday for The Washington Post that Tuberville should end his protest.
Among the op-ed’s listed writers were Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall III, and Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro.
Luca Cacciatore ✉
Luca Cacciatore, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is based in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on news and politics.
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