Woke politics, 'overly politicized' leadership undermining public trust in military, survey shows
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Perceptions of an "overly politicized" leadership class, presidential incompetence, and so-called "woke" policies are all contributing to a sharp decline in Americans' trust in the U.S. military, according to a new survey.
The 2022 Reagan National Defense Survey, an annual project of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, found that public trust in the military has declined by more than 20 points in recent years.
Only 48% of Americans say they have "a great deal of trust and confidence" in the military, the survey found. That's up slightly from 45% last year — when for the first time just a minority of the country had high confidence in the armed forces — but still within the margin of error.
Just four years ago, 70% of respondents said they had great trust in the military.
This sharp downward trend is consistent with findings from other surveys. The Pew Research Center, for example, earlier this year showed the share of Americans who say they have "a great deal of confidence in the military to act in the public's best interests" fell 14 points, from 39% in 2020 to 25%.
And Gallup earlier this year released a poll highlighting how confidence in military officers had declined to its lowest level since it began measuring in 2001. Between 2017 and 2022, Americans who believe military officers possess "high ethics”" fell by 10 points, down to 61%.
The new Reagan survey went an extra step and asked what's driving this decline in confidence.
The key factors are "things going on outside the core competencies of the military," Ronald Reagan Institute Director Roger Zakheim told the Wall Street Journal. "Call it politicization, call it wokeness" — that's where "you can connect the dots."
According to the survey, 62% of Americans say military leadership becoming "overly politicized" has decreased their confidence, making it the number one factor. This includes 60% of Democrats, 60% of independents, and 65% of Republicans.
Nearly 60% of respondents cited the performance and competence of the president as the commander in chief. The survey came out 15 months after President Biden ordered a full military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban took over the government. Most Americans disapproved of Biden's handling of the withdrawal, and the decision led to a drop in confidence in the military, according to polling at the time.
The Reagan survey also found a majority of Americans have less confidence in the military due to the military's civilian leadership (55%) and uniformed military leaders (52%).
Half of Americans say "so-called 'woke' practices undermining military effectiveness" contributed to their lower trust level.
Such practices have become commonplacefor the Pentagon. In June, for example, the Navy released a video training service members to use proper gender pronouns to create "safe spaces." The Army similarly trainsits soldiers on gender identity.
Earlier this year, the Defense Department wrote that diversity, equity, and inclusion are "necessities" in the military and need to be "a consideration or a part of all decisions in the military."
"White rage" has been a particular focus of Pentagon leaders, who have increasingly embraced the teaching of critical race theory (CRT) within military ranks. CRT argues racism is entrenched in all systems of American society and all disparities between the races indicate racial discrimination…
https://justthenews.com/government/security/woke-politics-overly-politicized-leadership-undermining-public-trust-military