Zaraki KenpachiA lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Space Force who was relieved of his command told Fox News Digital on Monday he is being “misportrayed” online in regards to the comments about Marxism he made on a podcast earlier this month – and that he has received a private outpouring of support from fellow servicemembers.
Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier, formerly the commander of the 11th Space Warning Squadron at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora Colo., was ousted from his position last week; a development first reported by Military.com.
Lohmeier told Fox News he still retains his rank but has been reassigned within the Space Force. The controversy came following Lohmeier’s appearance on the “Information Operation” podcast, wherein he promoted his new book, “Irresistible Revolution: Marxism’s Goal of Conquest & the Unmaking of the American Military.”
Lohmeier said there is an ongoing investigation into whether his remarks or actions have been politically partisan – a claim he fervently denies.
SPACE FORCE OFFICER LOST LEADERSHIP POST AFTER DENOUNCING CRITICAL RACE THEORY, MARXISM
“I don’t believe I was being partisan. It is not politically partisan to expose or attack critical race theory or Marxism,” Lohmeier told Fox News Monday.
“The reason I say that is because Critical Race Theory and Marxism are antithetical to American values. Critical race theory fuels narratives that attack America’s founding documents.”
In that regard, Lohmeier said he is and was not attacking any political party or official.
“I’m being misportrayed online – I don’t criticize any leader, or any person in the DoD (Department of Defense) or any elected officials – but I try to tee up ideas that I think are toxic,” he said.
In February, Lohmeier said, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III issued guidance to every service member which asked them to “stand up for each other” and that every soldier “has a responsibility to say something when they see impermissible behavior.”
“We owe it to the Oath we each took, and to the American people, to stand up against extremist ideologies,” Austin said in the memo, according to Lohmeier.
“That’s what I’m trying to do,” he told Fox News of his concerns regarding critical race theory and Marxism. “And I’m not trying to be politically partisan.”
On Fox News’ “Hannity” later Monday, Lohmeier told host Sean Hannity that institutionally, the Pentagon has had a zero-tolerance policy against any type of discrimination; whether it be race, sex, politics or religion.
While in command at Buckley, Lohmeier followed that tenet as a commanding officer.
He said, however, that in his time in leadership, communications sent out to every service member at the base in preparation for what Austin called ‘extremism down-days’, which – in the colonel’s words – alleged that “the country was evil, that it was founded in 1619 rather than 1776, and that White [people] are inherently evil”.
“So, I spoke up against those things in [writing] my book,” he told Hannity.
Lohmeier’s tribulations also reportedly resonated among the rank-and-file, as the colonel explained he has received to date “thousands” of notes from his fellow military members who said they feel they’ve “lost their voice.”
