Pentagon crushes narrative on ending military's DEI projects: 'Here are the facts'

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell posted a video on X explaining what the Department of Defense is doing to get rid of the many diversity, equity, and inclusion programs so that the department can go back to focusing on the nation's defense.

There have been reports and rumors circulating on social media claiming that names and projects have been unjustly removed for simply being based on a specific race.

"Over the past few weeks, we've taken action to identify and archive DEI content from our websites and social media platforms. The previous administration's zealous and destructive commitment to DEI not only divided our nation and weakened our force, but it also reduced our country's finest to their immutable characteristics," Parnell said.

The Army veteran said that while the task is monumental, it is "incredibly important" to ensure that the priorities of President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are carried out.

'Fake.'

"We enforced an aggressive timeline for our DOD services and agencies to comb through a vast array of content while ensuring our force remains ready and lethal. Every now and then, because of the realities of AI tools and other software, some important content was incorrectly pulled offline to be reviewed," he continued.

Parnell said that "history is not DEI" and that any content that is incorrectly removed, malicious or not, is quickly restored.

"We are so proud of our nation's heroes and our heritage. We honor the accomplishments of our warfighters and the content of their character," Parnell added.

The sometimes false claims on social media about the removal of DEI programs have veered into the absurd, so much so that Hegseth himself has corrected the record.

One viral X post from a self-proclaimed Democrat said, "Pete Hegseth removed Colin Powell’s name from a list of notable Americans, buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Hegseth also removed the names of every person of color and every woman on the same list. Only white men were left in place."

Hegseth responded to the post by simply stating, "Fake," as no such action took place.

The original post was given a Community Note that said, "No individuals have been removed from the listings of Notable Graves on the Arlington Cemetery website," and that "Colin Powell is listed in the section 'Prominent Military Figures.'"

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