Cruz, a Republican from Texas and a onetime presidential aspirant, Thursday retweeted a TikTok video that contained clips of Malonelord’s video along with portions of a Russian military recruiting ad showing male soldiers with shaved heads doing push-ups.
He commented, “Perhaps a woke, emasculated military wasn’t the best idea.” Cruz has often objected to women being in combat.
After that tweet received much negative reaction, he tweeted that he wasn’t attacking the military. “We have the greatest military on earth, but Dem politicians & woke media are trying to turn them into pansies,” he wrote.
While seldom used today, “pansy” was once widely utilized as a slur for gay men. Cruz’s comments have received extensive pushback, including from.