Donald Trump released a video clip at his Scranton rally in which he juxtaposes a screaming Hollywood drill sergeant with men in costumes and a top trans official in an effort to criticize what he called a “woke military.”
Trump had his team play the clip for a few thousand fans gathered at a riverfront sports complex in Scranton on Wednesday, a week after reflecting on the drill sergeant’s iconic role in Stanley Kubrick’s film Full Metal Jacket.
He posed it to show “Trump’s military compared to the very woke military we have now,” and told his supporters, “You’ll enjoy it.”
The video begins with a scene in which Ronald Lee Ermey, the Marine instructor who played Sergeant Hartman in the 1987 Vietnam War film, berates a new recruit by calling him a “little bastard.”
It then cuts to a top Biden administration health official, Rachel Levine, wishing viewers a “happy Pride Month.”
Donald Trump played a video at his campaign rally that juxtaposed famous scenes of Full Metal Jacket’s drill sergeant with drag videos and a video of a top health official who is trans.
Levine is an Army physician and assistant secretary of health. He is an admiral in the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and, as such, sometimes wears uniform in public. She is the first transgender official confirmed by the Senate.
One caption labels it “Biden Harris’ army.” The clip was posted by the X account ‘End Wokeness’ and quickly gained over a million views.
Other clips in the video alternate between clips of Ermey denigrating new recruits entering basic training as “the lowest form of life on earth” in an effort to divide them with clips of men dancing in drag in TikTok-style videos.
Rachel Levine is an admiral in the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and often appears in uniform. The Trump camp included her in the video of the Trump rally in Pennsylvania.
Trump praised Ronald Lee Ermey, the Navy drill instructor who played the role.
Trump showed TikTok-style videos of people dressed as women
Trump regularly talks about “strength” at his rallies and mocks his opponents as “weak”
Trump contrasts Biden’s military videos with ‘Trump’-era Full Metal Jacket version. The military has a long history of drag that predates both men.
The audience applauded and laughed as the former president took a break from his remarks, which lasted more than an hour, to share it.
Although the origin of the exact clips was not immediately clear, last year the Navy was forced to abandon an effort to target Generation Z in a recruiting effort that featured a recruiter in an “ambassador” role posing in line.
Although Trump’s video took aim at the Biden administration, the Greatest Generation that won World War II also had a long history of drag performances. military times has reported during the controversy.
That included theatrical performances in which men dressed up to play women’s roles at a time when women played only limited roles in the military.
The origins of the video were not immediately known, but Trump mentioned the war film during a speech last week in Wisconsin.
‘What was that great movie that was made?’ Trump asked, as an audience member apparently shouted the name.
‘Full metal jacket. They took someone from the military… a senior drill sergeant, right? Full metallic jacket. “He was supposed to get the Academy Award, but he shouldn’t have gotten it,” Trump said. “He was amazing in that movie.”
‘That movie was so good, right? There is nothing better,” Trump said.