In a statement released Thursday to make the beginning of “Pride Month,” woke Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin praised the “service, commitment, and sacrifice” of LGBTQ+ troops and personnel.

“This Pride Month, we honor the service, commitment, and sacrifice of the LGBTQ+ Service members and personnel who volunteer to defend our country. Their proud service adds to America’s strength,” he said. “Members of this community have deployed to combat zones around the globe, held high-ranking positions in the Pentagon, and fought and died alongside their teammates.”

Austin argued that in order to “defend our republic and win its wars” that the U.S. military must remain “open to all qualified patriots who seek to serve.”

“Militaries that do not avail themselves of the best possible talent of their citizenry put themselves at a strategic disadvantage. We would be rendering ourselves less fit to our weighty task if we excluded from our ranks people who meet our standards and who have the skills, the guts, and the devotion to serve in uniform,” he continued. “I believe that the story of America should be one of widening freedom, not deepening discrimination.”

Fact check: Austin isn’t in charge of telling America’s story. He’s in charge of honing the military to be the most effective killing machine on the planet. Pandering to wokeness compromises that objective.