This week, former Vice President Mike Pence promised to reimpose former President Trump’s ban against transgender people serving in the armed forces.
At the Iowa GOP Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines, Pence addressed the crowd, saying, “We are able to embrace our position as a leader of the free world and stand up to Russian aggression as well as Chinese provocations with an advanced military fit for the challenges we face in the 21st century.”
“And we can put an end to political correctness throughout the Pentagon,” Pence added, “including by reintroducing a ban on transgender persons serving in the US military.”
In July 2017, Trump made the announcement of the ban on Twitter: “Please be warned that the U.S. Government won’t accept or permit Transgender persons to serve in any position in the U.S. Military. This decision was made after consultation of both my Generals and military experts. Because of the enormous medical expenses and inconvenience that transgender service members would incur, our military must be devoted to achieving a decisive and overwhelming triumph and cannot be subjected to this burden. Thank you.”
Trump said on his campaign trail during the year that if he wins reelection, he would reinstate the ban.
On the campaign trail a couple of weeks ago, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also declared that he would forbid transgender people from serving in the United States military.
Republicans do not, however, unanimously support prohibiting transgender people from joining the military.
In a recent interview, Vivek Ramaswamy—who also happens to be running for president—was asked whether he would reintroduce the prohibition against transgender people serving in the U.S. military.
Ramaswamy made it clear twice throughout the interview that he is in favor of allowing transgender people to join the U.S. military and would not forbid them from doing so.
