EXCLUSIVE: Pentagon Ditches Admiral Who Allowed Drag Queen Performances On Aircraft Carrier

Daily Wire ^ | 07/10/2025 | Mary Margaret Olohan

[DFG]

The Defense Department is withdrawing the nomination of Rear Adm. Michael “Buzz” Donnelly, The Daily Wire can first report, under whose command drag performances took place on board the USS Ronald Reagan.

Donnelly served as commanding officer of the aircraft carrier from April 2016 to September 2018, during which time Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley performed as a drag queen under the name “Harpy Daniels” at a department-sanctioned “Morale, Welfare, and Recreation” event on the aircraft carrier.

The Defense Department announced on June 18 that President Donald Trump had nominated Donnelly for promotion to vice admiral and an appointment as commander of the 7th Fleet, the largest overseas force that the Navy has.

Following inquiries from The Daily Wire about Donnelly and the drag queen shows he permitted on board the USS Ronald Reagan, a source at the Defense Department said that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is withdrawing Donnelly’s nomination to lead the 7th Fleet.

Hegseth is looking for a new 7th Fleet commander, the source shared.

Donnelly drew national attention in 2023 when Sen. Tommy Tuberville held up his promotion to rear admiral as part of his blockade on Defense Department promotions. The Alabama Republican was fighting President Joe Biden’s policy providing three weeks of paid leave and reimbursement of travel expenses for military personnel and their dependents who wanted abortions.

Tuberville argued that the policy was one of many taxpayer-funded Defense Department initiatives unrelated to the agency’s mission of protecting the United States. He called on the former Navy leadership in a May 2023 letter to name the officers responsible for funding and promoting drag queen performances.

A number of legacy media outlets, including NBC and the Military Times, had highlighted the drag shows that occurred during Donnelly’s tour.

“Navy drag queen ‘Harpy Daniels’ is serving looks — and the country,” NBC headlined their story. The Military Times report was replete with photos of Kelley in drag, including one where he is doing a split in front of his fellow service members.

This type of significant press attention would have been “a standard reporting requirement directly to Captain Donnelly at the time,” William Thibeau, director of The American Military Project at The Claremont Institute, told The Daily Signal at the time.

“Every military officer takes command of units large and small with the understanding they are responsible for everything that does and does not happen under their command,” Thibeau explained in 2023. “It’s the basic truth of military leadership, whether you command an infantry company or an aircraft carrier.”

“The USS Ronald Reagan drag shows of 2017 and 2018 were not random acts of entertainment for sailors, but were sanctioned Navy programs under the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) department of the ship,” he noted. “As commander of the ship, Captain Donnelly would have been ultimately responsible for this program.”

Donnelly is a 2002 graduate of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island and served as commanding officer for Strike Fighter Squadron 154 (VFA-154), the last commanding officer of USS Denver deployed to Sasebo, Japan, commanding officer of USS Ronald Reagan deployed to Yokosuka, Japan and commander of Task Force Seven Zero/Carrier Strike Group Five.

[RummyChick]

Libs of TikTok
@libsoftiktok
·
May 2, 2023
The U.S. Navy hired this non-binary drag queen as a “digital ambassador” to try to recruit people

https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1653481253650288652

[grobdriver]

Queer as a three dollar bill...

[OldHarbor]

Back in the day Wayne Newton and his band performed a show for us . We were in Cannes France for Christmas.
They put on a good show .

We also had Barbara MandrelL do a show for us on board , in port Norfolk. We had been out to sea earlier that day. Barbara took 4 cat shots with the Admiral in a F-18 trainer .

[MIchaelTArchangel]

REAR admiral?
BUZZ?
Doh?

[Savage Beast]

Anybody with a functioning brain knows that sanctioning sexual perversion is betting on the wrong horse and will lower, not elevate, on-ship morale, the magnificent writings of Herman Melville notwithstanding and "rum, sodomy, and the lash" unforgotten.

[rlmorel]

I found it interesting to look at the faces in the background in this image as a general indicator of the internal support in the military for this kind of crap...anyone notice a trend?

They had all kinds of efforts to figure out why ships were not prepared, the mission was being performed, collisions at sea were occurring, fires were destroying ships at docks, and morale was at all time lows.

This picture shows the root of the problem. Look at the faces. Do you see a general pattern? Does this LOOK like something that "enhances morale"?

At post #17, Don W commented this is nothing new and referenced similar activities during wartime in WWII. I have to disagree with that assessment, I think Don W might be missing the forest for the trees, even though he is correct in saying this is not new for men to do impressions of women dancing or playing parts in plays where there were no females available. This is a very different thing.

In WWII, it was considered a JOKE, not FORCED INDOCTRINATION of perversion.

It is like saying transgenderism is fine because Flip Wilson was a man dressed like a woman and people laughed at it.

People in the past laughed at men dressing as women like Flip Wilson, Benny Hill, or Robin Willams did, because it was a joke, not because they approved of men dressing as women or thought that was a good thing.

This Admiral getting canned is a sign of health returning, not a sign of sickness. And a good thing, too.

[rlmorel]

It isn’t the same kind of thing at all. Not even close. By the way, my observations are not a personal criticism, as the facts are correct, this is indeed nothing new.

It is the context that is wholly different, and the faces in that photo indicate it.

This development is a sign of returning health, but it will be a long road.

[SaveFerris]

Definitely - I went to look this “event” up after seeing the thread

That’s the first picture I saw - yikes

Democrats Perverting EVERYTHING

[SaveFerris]

Other branches of government under Biden (and likely Obama)
were shoving Woke garbage as “required training” - Godless

[rdcbn1]

Well, things can get boring on a long cruise and a good freak show can break the monotony.

I'm, for one, am wondering how the heck a guy could get a body suit, fishnet stockings and red high heel pumps on board an aircraft carrier. Heck, that is not even allowed for women.

[PGR88]

They say aircraft carriers are like small American cities.

I guess that means they have red-light districts as well.

[Waverunner]

And then I was be eaten by sharks.
last chapter of Autobiographic story of life at sea.

[ansel12]

Look at 30 seconds of the 1939 American Navy and admire the difference.

https://youtu.be/4yD_7HN6OhA?si=KW-QzLQ9xkXZqyFH&t=20

[ABN 505]

That reminds me of Stalag 17 when they were trying to celebrate Christmas by dancing with each other. Nothing sexual about it just pathos.

[ansel12]

Here is the longer version of the 1939 shellback initiation on my dad’s ship.

https://youtu.be/L2mvBzRVzEI?si=5Abvq455Gpfl4aiM

[abigkahuna]

Wasn’t there always some sort of drag combined with Neptune as a way to haze new swabbies when crossing the equator ?

[silverleaf]

Water buckets at the ready…to separate the boys from the men!

[piasa]

Yes, not a sincere drag effort by queens but a mockery by straight guys for purposes of initiation.

[odawg]

“the magnificent writings of Herman Melville notwithstanding”

Can you explain??? I read Moby Dick and it must have went right by me.

[Pilsner]

That is one guy who bet his career on the wrong horse.

Depends on if you assume the drag shows cost him his third star, or got his first two stars...