Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) doesn't think U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville's (R-Auburn) hold on military promotions is the right approach to challenging a newly enacted Biden administration Department of Defense policy on abortion.
During an interview with syndicated radio host Hugh Hewitt, Haley, a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said it should not have gotten to the point that Alabama's senior senator would invoke such a tactic in the name of stopping a legally questionable policy that uses federal resources to enable military and civilian DoD personnel to receive an abortion.
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"Senator Tuberville has a hold on more than 300 general officers, colonels who want to promote to general, captains who want to promote to admiral, and then everyone, one-star to two-star on up," host Hugh Hewitt said. "We don't have a commandant of the Marine Corps. We do not have a chief of staff of the Army for the first time in 200 years. More than 300 vacancies. It's a mess. And I know that the Pentagon has violated the Hyde Amendment, and I know you're pro-life. But would you call Senator Tuberville and ask him to stop screwing up the military because we're on the brink of a conflict with China, and we cannot have this."
"Well, you know, I mean, look — this just goes to show how messed up our country is," Haley replied. "I mean, you look at the fact that the Department of Defense shouldn't be doing this in the first place. But there's got to be other ways to go about doing this. You know, I mean, in a time where our recruitment is 25% down and you know, 80% of those recruits typically come from military families, and military parents are telling their kids not to go into the military, it's because they don't feel like anybody's got the military's back. They look at the fact that 33,000 veterans are homeless. They look at the fact that they're, you know, dangling these promotions out there and using them as fodder. I mean, they're looking at the fact that people don't see these, you know, men and women who serve as heroes anymore. And that's sad, and it's terrible."
"And you know, I appreciate what Tuberville's trying to do," she continued. "I do — like it's totally wrong that the Department of Defense is doing this. But have we gotten so low that this is how we have to go about stopping it? I mean, at what point can we not go and have, you know, congressional members go to the Department of Defense and say look, you have to go through Congress if you're going to do this? You can't suddenly decide you're going to do this. Don't hold, you know, don't make us have to do this. I just think it shouldn't get to this point. And you know, for my husband who's serving overseas, and for all those military men and women, the idea that this is what they're looking back and seeing, and this is what they are dealing with on top of the stresses of keeping themselves safe and being away from their families, it's wrong."
Jeff Poor is the editor in chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email jeff.poor@1819News.com or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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