Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg has
criticized President Donald Trump's decision to prohibit transgender
individuals from serving in the U.S military.
Trump has defended his administration's
ban on transgender troops by saying that their medical care is too
expensive, a claim transgender rights activists have refuted.
In an interview with Mara Keisling,
executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality
(NCTE), Buttigieg, the openly gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana and a
veteran, criticized the policy and pledged to reverse it as
president.
(Related: Pete
Buttigieg jumps to second after Elizabeth Warren in Iowa poll.)
“Seeing what the president has done
with the trans military ban is infuriating,” Buttigieg
said. “And not just to somebody who served under both sides of
the Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal, but just as an American.”
“To have their careers cut short,
threatened by tweet and by policy by a president who avoided serving
in the military when it was his turn is, I think, the ultimate insult
to people who offer to give everything to this country.”
“So, this is a policy that will be
reversed as soon as I am president,” he added.