Carson on the Military: ‘Deal With the Transgender Thing Somewhere Else’

Ben Carson said yesterday at an Iowa veterans town hall event that he would prefer to shut transgender service members out of the military, and that the army should revert to the policies of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”

“I do not appreciate using our military as a laboratory for social experimentation,” Carson said for Concerned Veterans for America in Waterloo. “The last thing that we need to be doing is saying what would it be like if we introduced several transgender people into this platoon. Give me a break. Deal with the transgender thing somewhere else.”

The military announced in June that they would be ending their ban on trangender military members, and that they will be able to act openly starting next year. This was seen as one of the biggest socially-progressive steps the army has taken since the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in 2011, allowing gay men and women to openly serve.

Several on the GOP side have been less-than-pleased with the military’s move, and Carson seemed to take their position when he said that introducing transgender people to the troops fighting the enemy would not be helpful.

“I liked the old ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ philosophy,” Carson said. “Why do you have to go around flaunting your sexuality? It’s not necessary. You don’t need to talk about that. We need to talk about how we eliminate the enemy.”

Watch above, via CBS.

[h/t NBC]
[image via screengrab]