Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said on ABC's "This Week" he would not implement a ban on transgender individuals serving in the U.S. military should the longshot entrepreneur become commander-in-chief.
"Would you reinstate the ban on transgender members of the military?" Martha Raddatz asked.
"I would not reinstate a ban on transgender members. I would, however, be very clear that for kids, that's where my polices are very focused. We should not be foisting this ideology onto children," Ramaswamy replied.
"But you would not ban transgender members of the military?" Raddatz pressed.
"I would not," Ramaswamy repeated.
Ramaswamy further elaborated his position in a lengthy post on Twitter:
"If someone wants to serve our country, they should be able to serve so long as they don’t create risk or undue cost for other Americans. The risk of letting someone with a mental health problem serve in combat roles is too high, but for most roles in the military (administrative, support, legal, etc.), I don’t think a categorical ban makes sense. If a trans adult can’t serve as a JAG attorney, why should they be able to serve as a public prosecutor, defense attorney, local cop, fireman, doctor, or nurse either?" he wrote.
I’m an unapologetic American nationalist & my top objective as U.S. President is to revive civic pride in America.
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) June 5, 2023
Earlier today on @ThisWeekABC, I said that as U.S. President I would not implement a categorical ban on trans people in the military (though I do support a…