Navy SEAL who killed Bin Laden criticizes Pentagon for drag queen performance.

Decorated combat veteran and former Navy SEAL Robert J. O’Neill, who was on the mission to kill Islamic terrorist Osama bin Laden, is speaking out against the U.S. Navy’s recent decision to use a drag queen to recruit new sailors into service.

According to a report by The Daily Caller’s Micaela Burrow, the Navy recruited Joshua Kelley, an active-duty drag queen who goes by the stage name Harpy Daniels and identifies as non-binary, to be a “Navy Digital Ambassador.” The program ran from October 2022 to March 2023 and was designed to “explore the digital environment to reach a wide range of potential candidates” for military recruitment.

O’Neill responded to the report on Twitter, saying he “can’t believe [he] fought for this bullsh-t.”

“Alright. The U.S. Navy is now using an enlisted sailor Drag Queen as a recruiter. I’m done. China is going to destroy us.”

O’Neill isn’t the only veteran to condemn the military for its embrace of drag queens. Retired Army colonel and Townhall.com columnist Kurt Schlichter predicted that America is “going to lose the next war” it’s involved in. Retired Navy Rear Admiral and Texas GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson expressed similar disgust, tweeting “Who on EARTH would be persuaded to join [the military] after watching” Kelley’s drag videos.

The Navy’s use of a drag queen as a “digital ambassador” comes amid reports that the military is predicted to miss its recruiting targets for the 2023 fiscal year. The U.S. Navy, Air Force, and Army are projecting recruiting shortfalls in the “thousands” this year.

The Poisonous Ideology of DEI

As The Federalist previously reported, the Defense Department has been pushing military leadership to adopt discriminatory “DEI” ideology since President Joe Biden took office. DEI stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion and is a divisive and poisonous ideology that dismisses merit to discriminate based on characteristics such as skin color and sexual preferences. Individuals who qualify for a certain position due to their merits but don’t meet the discriminating entity’s goal of being more “diverse” are passed over in favor of those who meet the preferred identitarian standards.

A few months after Biden took office, U.S. Naval leadership was instructed to “lead and oversee all DEI efforts across the Department to synchronize key policies and initiatives … and to develop a strategy to advance DEI across the enterprise.”

The Need for Change

It’s clear that the U.S. military needs to change its recruitment tactics if it hopes to meet its goals. Using a drag queen as a “digital ambassador” is not the answer. As veterans and conservative commentators have pointed out, this decision is not only misguided but also insulting to those who have served and sacrificed for our country.

• Retired Army colonel and Townhall.com columnist Kurt Schlichter predicted that America is “going to lose the next war” it’s involved in.
• Retired Navy Rear Admiral and Texas GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson expressed similar disgust, tweeting “Who on EARTH would be persuaded to join [the military] after watching” Kelley’s drag videos.
• Veterans such as First TV host Jesse Kelly and other prominent conservatives echoed similar sentiments.

It’s time for the U.S. military to reevaluate its recruitment strategies and focus on attracting the best and brightest candidates, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation. Our national security depends on it.

Shawn Fleetwood is a Staff Writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He also serves as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood