Pentagon Spokesman Benched After Jackie Robinson Page Outcry

A Defense Department spokesman who championed the Trump administration’s purge of DEI-related content from government websites is being sidelined at the Pentagon, according to a report.

John Ullyot is expected to take up a new role in the department focusing on “special projects,” a source told the Washington Post, after an angry backlash to the removal of articles from the Pentagon’s website about the contribution made to American military history by notable minority figures. Among them was a page about Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in 1947 following service in the U.S. Army.

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In a statement after the article’s removal, which was shared with The Daily Beast, Ullyot referred to DEI—which stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion—as “Discriminatory Equity Ideology.”

“It is a form of Woke cultural Marxism that Divides the force, Erodes unit cohesion and Interferes with the services’ core warfighting mission,” he claimed.

The article was later restored following an uproar about its removal.

In a video posted to X on Thursday, Sean Parnell, another Pentagon spokesman, said screening for DEI content within the DOD was “an incredibly important undertaking,” but acknowledged that mistakes had been made.

“Some important content was incorrectly pulled offline to be reviewed,” he added. “We want to be very, very clear. History is not DEI. When content is either mistakenly removed, or if it’s maliciously removed, we continue to work quickly to restore it.”

Before the Robinson furore, Ullyot had already made headlines for his clashes with defense reporters and even his own Pentagon colleagues.

Shortly after Trump took office, Ullyot made the provocative decision to revoke office access at the Pentagon for a number of legacy media outlets, including NPR, the Washington Post and the New York Times, replacing them with outlets deemed to be more sympathetic to the president’s agenda such as Breitbart, One America News, and the New York Post.

The move was said to be part of the White House’s “Annual Media Rotation Program,” which will see news organizations from print, TV, radio and online news periodically rotated out to give outlets priority access to the office space.

But many outlets viewed the move, overseen by Ullyot, as an overstepping of personal authority and a snub to independent journalism.

The Pentagon Press Association, which represents journalists who cover the Department of Defense, said it was troubled by the news.

“Our resident press corps has greatly expanded over the years and we have always welcomed new members and will continue to do so,” they said in a statement following the announcement.

“We are, however, greatly troubled by this unprecedented move by DOD to single out highly professional media who have covered the Pentagon for decades, under both Republican and Democratic administrations,” they added. “We have asked for a meeting and we will keep everyone informed.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Defense for comment.