"Woke" Disneyland Should Not Train Soldiers, GOP Politician Says

United States House Speaker Kevin McCarthy does not want the Disneyland Resort in charge of training the U.S. Armed Forces.

Kevin McCarthy is one of the most prominent figures in the Republican Party, along with anti-Disney crusader Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump. As such, when he comes out against an iconic American institution like the Walt Disney Company for being too “woke,” it is significant.

However, Kevin McCarthy is currently being roundly mocked online for his recent comments about Disneyland, in which he told a group of reporters that the U.S. Armed Forces would not be effective if it was trained by the legendary California resort and theme park because of “woke.”

On Friday, the House of Representatives passed the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which would raise pay for many service members, but also block coverage for abortion for service members and discontinue diversity initiatives, as well as transgender health care.

Here are House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s direct words on Disneyland and the military:

None of these sentences makes sense and it’s sad he thinks his target audience doesn’t care. https://t.co/MLllg4cRQ1

— Leslie Streeter (@LeslieStreeter) July 14, 2023

The Speaker said “Stop using taxpayer money to do their own wokeism. A military cannot defend themselves if you train them in woke. We don’t want Disneyland to train our military.”

So far, Kevin McCarthy is being made fun of for the word salad of the sentences themselves, which used variations of the hotly debated, little-agreed-upon word “woke” in a couple of different odd ways.

Is this a SNL skit? Ridiculous https://t.co/py3YlC9TVu

— Lea Black (@LeaBlackMiami) July 14, 2023

The Speaker is also being mocked for the idea that Disneyland would ever in any way be involved in the training of the Armed Forces or with the Department of Defense.

I don’t know, I think Disneyland would train our military well. They already train actors in Mickey Mouse costumes to fend off unruly teenagers. Who’s to say they can’t train soldiers around the world? https://t.co/u04ZGwHTsj

— Jeremy Fassler (@J_fassler) July 14, 2023

It is worth mentioning that Kevin McCarthy fairly clearly meant his inclusion of Disneyland (and its issues with “woke”) as something of a metaphor and that he likely did not mean that the Defense Department is working with the theme park to train soldiers.

Wait, was this an option? Were Micky, Minnie, and Cinderella going to train our military? I'd keep Goofy in the barracks, though. #KevinMcCarthy #woke #Disney https://t.co/gFsKmSCdou

— TerryHasAnOpinon (@Terrysagirl) July 15, 2023

Rather, the Walt Disney Company unexpectedly becoming public enemy number one to many conservative elements of the country means it is an easy reference point for Kevin McCarthy to use as an allusion to the idea that diversity efforts and expanded healthcare are bad for the military and, by extension, America as a whole.

1. Disneyland does not train our military

2. “Wokism in the military” is not a thing

3. Your bill is DOA in the senate

4. You are the most embarrassing excuse for a Speaker in the history of the House of Representatives pic.twitter.com/jmbf5haySK

— Andrew Wortman 🟧 (@AmoneyResists) July 14, 2023

Interestingly, despite being mocked online for his somewhat muddy statement, Kevin McCarthy appears to consider his statement a powerful one and has directly posted it on Twitter, presumably as a symbol of his stance against the somewhat-vague forces of “woke” and “wokeism.”

We don’t want Disneyland to train our military.

House Republicans just passed a bill that ENDS the wokism in the military and gives our troops their biggest pay raise in decades. pic.twitter.com/JBkoZxsFiS

— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) July 14, 2023

Do you think that Disneyland should be in charge of training the U.S. Armed Forces? Sound off in the comments below!