Texas Senator Ted Cruz has come under fire for using an anti-gay slur as he continued his attacks on a US Army ad, claiming that the Democrats were turning the military into “pansies”.
Angry veterans fired back at Mr Cruz after he retweeted a video juxtaposing a macho recruiting video for the Russian Army with a video of a daughter of two mothers becoming a US Army corporal.
He wrote: “Holy crap. Perhaps a woke, emasculated military is not the best idea….”
Despite the backlash, Mr Cruz continued with his criticism of the US Army ad, tweeting: “I’m enjoying lefty blue checkmarks losing their minds over this tweet, dishonestly claiming that I’m ‘attacking the military.’ Uh, no. We have the greatest military on earth, but Dem politicians & woke media are trying to turn them into pansies. The new Dem videos are terrible.”
“Pansy” is defined as a disparaging and offensive word describing someone who’s homosexual. The term was first used in its current form in 1929, according to Merriam-Webster.
The TikTok video retweeted by Mr Cruz shows a stony-faced, muscular man doing push-ups, lying in the snow with a rifle, and jumping out of a plane.
The Russian ad then gives way to the US’s colourful animation telling the true story of Cpl Emma Malonelord, who joined the Army after being raised by her two mothers.
The US Army said the ad shows “the deeply emotional and diverse” backgrounds of its members.
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