Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pushed back against claims that the U.S. military is “soft” in an interview with CNN on Memorial Day.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has recently mocked the United States for having a “woke, emasculated military” after a TikTok video contrasted military recruitment advertisements from Russia and the U.S.

Holy crap.

Perhaps a woke, emasculated military is not the best idea…. https://t.co/8aVFMW98NM

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 20, 2021

“It is not too soft. It will never be too soft,” Austin fired back in an interview on CNN. “You know, I think our adversaries, would like to capitalize on talking points like that, you know, the Chinese, the Russians. I welcome them to do that, because what this department, what Lloyd Austin is focused on is the defense of our nation.”

Austin then underscored that he does not care what foreign adversaries are saying about the U.S. military.

“I will not lose one minute of sleep about what the Chinese leadership is saying, or what Vladimir Putin is saying,” he said. “What I will focus on, and what I am focused on, is the defense of this nation.”

He later added that despite criticism from Cruz and others that a series of recruitment videos labeled “The Calling” are focusing on the wrong attributes of future servicemembers, such as diversity instead of physical strength.

“I think we’re doing a great job in terms of recruiting the right kinds of people, providing access to people from every corner, every walk of life in this country,” Austin told CNN. “As long as you’re fit and you can qualify, there’s a place for you on this team.”

The interview largely focused on honoring servicemembers and Austin’s personal experience as a four-star general.

“Some of the things I’ve seen in terms of young people putting themselves in harm’s way, to protect their squad, or protect their buddy, or to go back into danger to retrieve their buddy willingly, you know, without even thinking about it, it’s just amazing, just amazing to watch what they’ll do for each other,” Austin said.

The post Defense Secretary Dismisses Ted Cruz’s Claim U.S. Military is ‘Emasculated’: China and Russia ‘Would Like to Capitalize on Talking Points Like That’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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