U.S. Congressman’s Attack on National Guard Troops Earns a Big Blowback

A left-wing congressman is receiving significant blowback for disparaging comments about white members of the National Guard.

Some 25,000 Guard soldiers from around the country have funneled into Washington to beef up security ahead of Wednesday’s presidential inauguration. They did so in anticipation of threats following the tragic Jan. 6 riot by some of President Donald Trump’s supporters. 

On Monday, Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee surveyed this build-up and suggested that white troops should be eyed suspiciously in the presence of Democrat Joe Biden.

Cohen told CNN this idea came to him after reading on social media about Anwar Sadat and Indira Gandhi, one-time leaders of Egypt and India, respectively, who were assassinated by their own troops or bodyguards.

“The Guard is 90 some-odd, I believe, percent male, and only about 20 percent of white males voted for Biden,” Cohen told CNN.

“You’ve got to figure that in the Guard, which is predominantly more conservative … they’re probably not more than 25 percent of the people that are there protecting us who voted for Biden. The other 75 percent are in the large class of folks who might want to do something.”

“And there were military people and police who took oaths to defend the Constitution to protect and defend that were in the insurrection,” Cohen added. “So, it does concern me.”

When the interviewer made the sane point that voting for President Donald Trump is not the same as being a violent threat, Cohen doubled down, saying those who voted for Trump would be the first group “you’d be suspect of.”

Cohen’s line keeps with the broader Democratic strategy of declaring that white nationalists were responsible for the riot.  

Conservatives, however, have returned fire at Cohen.

Republican Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida, a former Green Beret, and Army colonel called Cohen’s comments “insulting,” “disgusting” and racist.

“t’s the definition of racism to stereotype an entire group based on their skin color and their gender,” Waltz told Fox News. “It’s just offensive all around.” Waltz also pointed out that the ratio of blacks in the National Guard doubles that of the general population. 

“When you’re out there conducting those missions, there is no politics,” Waltz added. “There’s just your brother, your sister, your left, your right, and their fellow Americans. You don’t even have a clue who anybody voted for. That doesn’t even come into the equation.”

Florida Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican, tweeted, “Dem Congressman believes some of our troops are a threat merely because they’re white & male. Our military members dedicate their lives to serving & protecting our country. Anyone who questions their ability to do so based on ignorant assumptions such as these should be ashamed.”

Dana Loesch, a former spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association, added on Twitter, “First, this is just a reckless and stupid accusation. Second, Cohen doesn’t seem to realize that people don’t pledge to serve for other people (and shouldn’t), they pledge to serve country.

Former CBS News reporter Lara Logan tweeted, “I was a journalist on the battlefields of Iraq & Afghanistan for more than a decade. I watched many of these ‘white men’ die there, right beside black, Hispanic & Asian men & women of every color. None of them cared about race – just each other & this country. Shame on all of you.”

Also on Fox, Jack Keane, a retired four-star Army general, said, “Congressman Cohen’s statement, it’s not only outrageous, this is a statement that’s significantly irresponsible and is completely baseless.”

Even Glenn Kessler, a progressive pundit, and Washington Post “fact-checker,” acknowledged that Cohen stepped in it. “Does a Democratic congressman really want to suggest that if you voted for Trump you might be a seditionist?” he tweeted. “What happened to the idea that military people are professionals and do their jobs regardless of political preferences?”