Rick Perry on Friday criticized
President Barack Obama on repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” the
recently ended policy that for 18 years banned gay and bisexual
troops from serving openly.
Speaking before veterans at an event on
Thursday on the U.S.S. Yorktown in New York City, Perry said the
president was wrong to repeal the policy.
“I think our president made a huge
error when he changed the policy, particularly in the middle of a
war, in two different theaters of war. Basically using our military
as a political tool to advance his base's position and their desire
to make those individuals public. And I think that is frankly a
great concern.”
Perry's remarks come just days after
his campaign
released an ad in which he says there is something wrong with
America when gay troops can serve openly in the military but children
cannot openly celebrate Christmas and accuses Obama of waging a war
on religion.
When asked what he would do with the
troops who had already come out, Perry answered: “I think you go
back and you have that conversation with the civilian leaders and the
military leaders on how you want to deal with them.” (The video is
embedded in the right panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)