The U.S. Army has suspended a former top general from a consulting position and put him under investigation. This happened after the general posted a tweet appearing to mock Jill Biden over a recent comment by the first lady on the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The tweet by retired Lt. General Gary Volesky that appears to mock The FLOTUS came in response to a statement posted to the first lady’s Twitter account after the court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
“Glad to see you finally know what a woman is,” Volesky responded, according to USA Today, which first reported the story. The tweet has since been deleted.
Who is Lt. General Gary Volesky?
His remark appeared to echo an exchange between Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., during a confirmation hearing for Jackson in March. Blackburn pushed Jackson to define the word “woman” in regards to transgender rights.
Volesky was on a $92-an-hour contract with the Army serving as a senior mentor advising top military officers and other personnel on war games strategy and other military activities, according to the USA Today report.
The Army did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, in a statement to USA Today, spokeswoman Cynthia Smith confirmed that Volesky had been suspended pending the inquiry’s outcome. Attempts to reach Volesky were not immediately successful.
Volesky is a retired three-star general. He received one of the military’s highest honors, the Silver Star, for his valor in Iraq. The general also served in the Gulf War and the war in Afghanistan.
He commanded the Army’s I Corps, one of its top formations. Moreover, he was also the commander of the 101st Airborne Division. The General was the chief of the Army’s Public Affairs division from 2012 to 2014. He retired from the Army in 2020.