- Texas Rep.
Ronny Jackson aired a laundry list of right-wing grievances as he questioned Gen. Mark Milley. - Jackson tried to tie critical race theory to an ISIS-K terror attack that killed 13 service members.
- Jackson then called on Milley to resign, drawing an audible scoff and a rebuke from the top general.
Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas used his time questioning Gen. Mark Milley to air a laundry-list of Republican social grievances before calling for the general to resign his position as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Jackson, a freshman House Freedom Caucus member who previously served as Physician to the President under both Obama and Trump, sought to tie an ISIS-K terrorist attack at Kabul airpot last month to a "woke social experiment" being carried out by the US military, dropping references to critical race theory and "wokeness."
"Just two days prior to when these provinces fell, you were here in our committee on June 23rd. You sat before this committee, and you listed some of your concerns that we talked in depth about," Jackson began. "One was defending critical race theory in the military, telling us you want to understand white rage, telling us how offended you were to be labeled as 'woke,' and worrying about what caused American civilians to enter the Capitol on January 6th.
"I submit to you that perhaps we would not have had 13 service members and hundreds of Afghans killed, 18 service members wounded, and countless US citizens abandoned and left as Taliban hostages if you had been more focused on your duty to this country instead of defending and pandering to the Biden administration's 'woke social experiment' with the United States military, doing book interviews, and colluding with Chinese military officials," he added.
-The Recount (@therecount) September 29, 2021
Jackson went on to call on Milley to resign due to his "dereliction of duty."
"General Milley, will you now resign?" Jackson asked. In response, Milley audibly scoffed before declaring, "I serve at the pleasure of the president, Mr. Jackson."
-CSPAN (@cspan) September 29, 2021
Jackson is among a number of Republicans who've called on Milley to resign over calls he made to his Chinese counterpart during Trump's final days in office.
During the conversations, Milley sought to assure the Chinese that Trump would not spark a war on his way out of the White House. Trump became increasingly erratic after he lost the November 2020 election, and launched an unpredecented effort to overturn the results.
Milley fervently defended his conversations with his Chinese counterpart as he testified before Senate and House lawmakers in separate hearings on Afghanistan this week. Though the hearings were meant to focus on the Afghanistan withdrawal, Milley's phone calls to the Chinese and involvement in recent tell-all books on the Trump era were also expected to be addressed given the scope of the controversy. The general emphasized to lawmakers that other Trump administration officials were aware of the calls, stating that he was not acting unilaterally.
"The calls on 30 October and 8 January were coordinated before and after with [Defense] Secretary [Mark T.] Esper and acting secretary [Christopher C.] Miller's staffs and the interagency," Milley said on Tuesday.
"I believe that was faithfully executing the intent of the president, the United States at the time, because I knew with certainty that President Trump was not going to attack the Chinese just out of the blue," Milley added.