Rep. Kat Cammack sounds off on Secretary Austin's secretive hospital stay: 'Dangerous incompetence'
Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., joined 'The Faulkner Focus' to discuss why the incident is 'absurd' and the latest on the GOP's effort to oust DHS Secretary Mayorkas.
Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., called out the Biden administration's "dangerous incompetence" on "The Faulkner Focus" Monday after Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was quietly hospitalized without the White House's awareness. Cammack told host Harris Faulkner that Austin is unfit for leadership and should never have been appointed in the first place following a record of "failures."
KAT CAMMACK: Leave it to the Biden administration to take something routine, like an elective surgery, which often happens with members of Congress, with members of the administration and botch it. This is dangerous incompetence. It's not just incompetence. It's not just a lack of transparency. It is dangerous because not only … are our men and women in uniform and our military installations abroad under constant attack, particularly in the Middle East. But there is a heightened level of engagement around the globe. And when you have the Secretary of Defense, sixth in command, out of commission, his deputy not even knowing that he himself is out of commission, in ICU and on vacation. This is absurd. This is just another example as to why actions have consequences.
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - JUNE 23: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin participates in a meeting with Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto at the Pentagon on June 23, 2023 in Arlington, Virginia. ((Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images))
And I go back to the 117th Congress, when there was a vote under Speaker Pelosi to grant a waiver to allow Austin to become secretary of defense. Now, the rationale back then was, well, you know, it's been done before, so we should do it again. I was proud that I voted against granting Austin that, he should have never been secretary of defense, because he was a failed commander when he was in control of Central Command. In fact, when I was at the Naval War College, he was a case study in failures of leadership. We've known back then, and he has demonstrated whether it was then, with the botched Afghanistan withdrawal or now his lack of communication. He is not fit to be the secretary of defense.
The White House said President Biden has "full trust" in Austin as calls mount Monday for the defense leader to resign or be fired in light of his quiet hospitalization in an intensive care unit that even the White House was unaware of for days.
A White House official told Fox News Digital on Monday morning that President Biden has no plans to replace Austin and "continues to have full trust and confidence in the Secretary."
The White House's comment follows former President Trump, saying Sunday that Austin "should be fired immediately for improper professional conduct and dereliction of duty."
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Fox News' Emma Colton contributed to this report.
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