Biden defends Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin after he sparred with Matt Gaetz over military 'wokeness'

Lloyd Austin, the Secretary of Defense, had a shouting match with Rep. Matt Gaetz during his testimony before the House armed services committee.

President Joe Biden addressed a national union conference on Wednesday.

Secretary Austin looked at him and asked, "What the hell do you think we've done?" Why do you think they can fight? We trained them and gave them weapons. That is what is happening, Biden said.

Gaetz used his five-minute round to ask about the US military's "wokeness" and how it has led to apparent Defense Department failures.

The Florida Republican asked Austin about a lecture the French economist Thomas Picketty gave at the US National Defense University titled "Responding to China: The Case for Global Justice and Democratic Socialism."

Gaetz asked, "Why should American taxpayers fund lectures at the National Defense University that promote socialism as a strategy to combat China?"

Gaetz asked if socialism would be an effective strategy to combat China after Austin said he was not familiar with the lecture.

Gaetz accused Austin of blowing a lot of calls on matters of strategy.

—CSPAN (@cspan) April 5, 2022

Mr Secretary, you told us that Russia could not lose. Gaetz wondered what in the $773 billion that you are requesting today is going to help you make assessments that are accurate.

Austin said that he was sorry that you were embarrassed by your country.

Gaetz said the Defense Department has failed to deter Russia.

Austin asked, "What do you mean we are behind in hypersonics?"

CNN reported on Tuesday that the US quietly tested the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept in March.

A defense official told CNN that the weapon was launched from a bomber off the West Coast. In September 2021, the Air Force successfully tested the missile, which was faster than Mach 5, but there were no details about the launch.

Russia said it used its own missile during the invasion of Ukraine.

The use of the Russian Kinzhal missile was downplayed by US officials. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said it was hard to know what the justification was for Russia's use of the missile since it targeted a storage facility.