Virginia Republican Senate candidate Hung Cao slammed "woke" military recruitment efforts during the Senate debate on Wednesday. 

“When you're using a drag queen... to recruit for the Navy, that's not the people we need," Cao, a retired U.S. Navy captain, said. "What we need is alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them and ask for seconds."

"Those are young men and women who are going to win wars," he added. 

Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and Cao squared off in a debate on Wednesday at Norfolk State University where they were asked questions about the economy, education and the ongoing war in the Middle East. 

This is the second U.S. Senate debate that Norfolk State University has hosted, according to local media.

Over the past few years, the U.S. military has come under fire from Republicans for "woke training" and "woke" recruiting in the U.S. military. 

Judicial Watch published hundreds of pages about critical race theory (CRT) being taught at West Point. It was also reported that the U.S. Navy is training service members on using the correct pronouns.