Fox News "The Ingraham Angle" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Byron Donalds

Interview

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INGRAHAM: Joining me now are Florida congressman Byron Donalds and Mike Waltz. Congressman Waltz, the chairman parroted the left wing talking points that teaching CRT is the same as teaching about slavery. Doesn't this reveal what a political - he's just a total partisan at this point.

REP. MICHAEL WALTZ (R-FL): Yes. No, Laura, so I have a lot of respect for General Milley and his service, but he is completely confusing this issue. I legitimately think he is confusing critical race theory for some type of diversity training, or a history class on fascism and communism.

I have no problem with history and understanding our history or with diversity, but understanding that critical race theory is teaching our future Military leaders that they need to resist, our very basic institutions that our Constitution, our court system, our political system is bad, and at its core is racist, misogynist, colonialist, and therefore needs to be pushed back against. These are just some kids out in Cal Berkeley, sitting out there smoking pot somewhere, these are the cadets at West Point, the future leaders of our Military that will one day have their finger on the button, and it is a cancer.

Critical race theory is a cancer that needs to be carved out. The Secretary of Defense didn't even realize it's being taught at West Point to include a seminar on how to deal with your whiteness and your white race. I can't think of anything that is more divisive and more destructive to unit morale and the cohesiveness of our Military.

INGRAHAM: You're giving him a lot more credit than I am. I think he knows exactly what's going on. I mean, I respect his service just like you, but I do not respect what went down at this hearing today.

And Congressman Donalds, the idea that we are sending our tax dollars to this Military to in an attempt to weed out so-called extremists, which just means conservative evangelicals, as far as I can tell, we're paying for that? Why is Congress not saying we're not going to give you a penny until all of this is eradicated from the Military budget? Nothing. This is my offer to you. Nothing. That's what I would say. I'm totally outraged by him and his ridiculous response today. Sorry, Congressman.

REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): No, you're right, Laura. I understand your anger because I'm upset about it as well. You're 100 percent correct. Congress should not be sending money to the Military in order to teach critical race theory. Frankly, we need our white men and women who serve in our armed forces to be prepared, to defend our nation against all foreign entities that are going to cause us harm, not having to answer for their whiteness. That is ridiculous. That is a joke.

If you want to study the history of the nation, study the history of the nation. But let's be very clear, critical race theory is a subjective lens to view the history of the country, not an objective study of the history of the United States. CRT is going to split our Military ranks, like it splits our young children in schools. It has no place there. It has no place in K-12 education. And the United States government should not be funding that.

If academics want to theorize in the halls of academia, it's a free country. God bless you. Go, do it. But we shouldn't be funding it in our Military and in our schools.

INGRAHAM: Congressman Waltz, where do you think this leads us? I mean, what evangelical Christian or faithful Catholic, or, frankly, any common sense, a young man or woman, why are they going to sign up for this to be told how rotten and awful the country is? Oh, but we're just reading about the theories. Is that we're just reading about the theories?

WALTZ: Well, yes, Laura, we're going to - we have legislation moving that is going to ban it from the Military and certainly from our Military academies.

INGRAHAM: No money.

WALTZ: Right. And certainly not support that, but what they need to understand, this isn't just Republican talking points. We're hearing this from cadets, from soldiers, from their parents that are just as outraged.

When I signed up to be a Green Beret, I was taught you bleed green, the only skin color you care about is camouflage. And I can tell you Chinese, Al Qaeda, Russian bullets could care less about black, white or brown. All they care about is that American flag, and whether you're American or not. In the foxhole, that's all that matters. So how do we move forward with it mission focused, merit-based Military, that's the best of the best. That's what the general needs to be focused on.

INGRAHAM: Go after their budget. That will be the only thing they understand is their budget, their money. That's it. That's all they understand. Congressmen, thank you for speaking the truth on this.

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