Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has made it clear that he does not intend to ban transgender individuals from serving in the military.
“I will not bring back the ban on transgender members,” Ramaswamy said during an interview on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday.
Ramaswamy’s remarks came in response to a question about his alleged “anti-woke” bona fides, with host Martha Raddatz noting that he was introduced at a recent event as the “godfather of the anti-woke movement.”
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The candidate noted that he wanted to be “very clear” that he was “very focused” on transgender “ideology” that was not aimed at children.
Shortly after taking office, President Biden moved to repeal a Trump-era regulation that prohibited people from openly serving under their identified gender. The measure to allow transgender individuals to serve openly expires in June 2021, and applies to all active duty, members of the National Guard or Reserve, and cadets at US military service academies.
Ramaswamy is seen as a long-shot candidate by many observers, following former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the favorite to win the 2024 GOP nomination.
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According to the latest Fox News poll, Ramaswamy is the preferred candidate of only 3% of Republican primary voters, far behind the 53% who support Trump and 21% who support DeSantis. Ramaswamy also trails former Vice President Mike Pence and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who got 6% and 4% support in the Fox News poll, respectively.
But Ramaswamy said he accepts his status as an “outsider,” something that was once true of Trump before he shocked observers to win the GOP nomination and the White House in 2016.
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“I’m the outsider in this race, I think you can be an outsider for once,” Ramaswamy told “This Week.” “I’m the first millennial to run for the GOP nomination for president of the US, and I’m actually leading us on something.
The Ramaswamy campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News request for comment.