Ted Cruz and Donald Trump Jr. mocked a new CIA recruitment ad in which a staffer identified as a millennial with anxiety

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Ted Cruz and Donald Trump Jr. mocked a new CIA recruitment ad in which a staffer identified as a millennial with anxiety
A composite image of Donald Trump Jr. and Sen. Ted Cruz.Rick Wilking/Reuters; Jabin Botsford/Getty Images
  • The CIA released a recruitment ad starring a Latina officer identifying as a "cisgender millennial."
  • It's part of the "Humans of CIA" series meant to attract a more diverse pool of candidates.
  • Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump Jr. mocked the CIA on Monday; Trump said it'd gone "full woke."
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Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Donald Trump Jr. have derided the CIA for releasing a recruitment ad starring a female staffer who celebrated being a "cisgender millennial" with anxiety.

The video, released on YouTube by the CIA as part of its "Humans of CIA" series on March 25, sees a Latina woman talk candidly about identity and success.

"I am a woman of color. I am a mom. I am a cisgender millennial who has been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. I am intersectional, but my existence is not a box-checking exercise," the woman says.

"I did not sneak into CIA," she adds. "I earned my way in, and I earned my way up the ranks."

The ad is part of a video series released by the CIA to attract a more diverse pool of job applicants. The agency has also launched a new website as part of that goal.

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The clip went viral on social media earlier this week, prompting conservatives to mock the ad.

"If you're a Chinese communist, or an Iranian Mullah, or Kim Jong Un...would this scare you? We've come a long way from Jason Bourne," Cruz tweeted late Monday, mentioning the protagonist of the "Bourne Identity" spy movies and books.

The CIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

Trump also tweeted, "China and Russia love this," adding in a second tweet that the two countries were "laughing their asses off watching CIA go full woke. 'Cisgender.' 'Intersectional.'"

"If you think about it, wokeness is the kind of twisted PSYOP a spy agency would invent to destroy a country from the inside out," he added, referring to psychological operations, which seek to influence people's emotions and reasoning.

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Larry Pfeiffer, a former CIA chief of staff, tweeted in response: "I would suggest that if you don't like it, you are probably not whom the ad is targeting for employment. Strength from diversity."

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