On Sunday, Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy appeared on ABC’s “This Week” and revealed his position on transgender military members. He stated that he would not bring back the ban on trans military members, which was implemented under former President Donald Trump and then overturned under President Joe Biden.
ABC anchor Martha Raddatz asked, “I want a very quick question here in the end. You were introduced yesterday in Iowa as the intellectual godfather of the anti-woke movement. Would you reinstate the ban on transgender members of the military?”
Ramaswamy replied, “I would not reinstate a ban on transgender members. I would, however, be very clear that for kids, that’s where my policies are very focused. We should not be foisting this ideology onto children.”
Raddatz pressed, “But you would not ban transgender members of the military?”
Ramaswamy confirmed, “I would not.”
WATCH:
Vivek Ramaswamy comes out in support of trans rights, saying he will not ban them from the U.S. military. pic.twitter.com/tpd1owIpoO
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) June 4, 2023
Ramaswamy also stated during his appearance on ABC that the phrase “America First” does not belong to former president Donald Trump, but rather “belongs to the people of this country.”
Raddatz asked, “You would have to convince hard-core trump voters to come over to you. How do you do that? How do you walk that fine line?”
Ramaswamy replied, “America First does not belong to Trump. It doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the people of this country. And I think we take that agenda even further if we’re doing it based on first principles and moral authority as Reagan did rather than on vengeance and grievance, and that’s what I’m bringing to this race.”
WATCH:
GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy tells @MarthaRaddatz that the “America First” agenda “does not belong to Trump.”
“It doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the people of this country.” https://t.co/1SlS2LIyjK pic.twitter.com/MJMWG08Mql
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) June 4, 2023
The candidate added, “I’m running for president because I’m best suited for this country to a national revival.”
To which Raddatz then asked, “I know you said that but do you support Donald Trump?”
Ramaswamy answered, “I’d support whoever the GOP nominee is. I want to be clear with you, a lot of those investigations against Donald Trump have been politicized, the New York one in particular, but even more importantly, it’s up to the people of this country to decide who governs. That’s the constitutional bargain.”
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