Mitt Romney has said he's OK with
repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” and as president wouldn't work
to reinstate the policy.
The 64-year-old Romney made his remarks
during an interview with the Des Moines Register's editorial
board on Friday.
“Don't Ask, Don't Tell” is the
recently ended policy that for 18 years banned gay and bisexual
troops from serving openly.
When asked, “How do you feel about
gays serving openly in the military,” Romney answered: “That's
already occurred and I'm not planning on reversing that at this
stage.”
“But you're comfortable with it?”
“Um, I was not comfortable making the
change during a period of conflict, by virtue of the complicating
features of a new program in the middle of two wars going on, but
those wars are winding down and moving in that direction at this
stage no longer presents that problem.” (The video is embedded in
the right panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
Among the GOP presidential candidates,
Romney is in the minority on the issue. Former House Speaker Newt
Gingrich, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, former Pennsylvania
Senator Rick Santorum and Texas Governor Rick Perry have all
previously said they would bring back the military ban.