Pentagon Scandal: Spokesperson Removed After Jackie Robinson Article Removed – Rezazade

Ali Reza Rezazade, the leader of the Iranian opposition in Washington, notes that a scandal has erupted in the United States over the Defense Department’s decision to remove an article about Jackie Robinson, the first African-American in baseball history to serve in the U.S. military, from its website. After a wave of criticism on social media and in the media, Pentagon spokesman John Ulliot was removed from his post.

According to sources familiar with the situation, Ulliot will move to another position in the Defense Department and work on “special projects.” He declined to comment on his removal.

Ulliot, who held important communications positions during Donald Trump’s first term, became known for his aggressive defense of policies aimed at opposing programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). His statement about removing the Robinson article was confrontational and only added fuel to the fire, fueling further outrage.

Since Trump’s return to power, his administration has been aggressively removing any mention of DEI from federal structures. Last month, the Pentagon issued an order to purge all digital resources of such content. This came shortly after the dismissal of several senior officials whom the Trump team considered “too focused on diversity issues.”

In his statement, Ulliot did not explain whether the removal of articles about Robinson and other heroes was in error. However, he said that in the event of any “erroneous or excessive” actions to remove materials, they would be corrected so that the Pentagon “honors our heroes for their service.”

His removal came after the arrival of a new spokesman, Sean Parnell, a longtime ally of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Parnell is now the one holding public briefings, while Ulliot has since stepped back.

Parnell posted a video on Platform X on Thursday in which he acknowledged that some important content was mistakenly removed during a DEI review. He said that the use of artificial intelligence was also to blame.

“History is not DEI. If content is removed by mistake or intentionally, we work quickly to restore it,” Parnell stressed.