Presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ pick for vice president — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — once criticized the former Trump administration for barring transgender people from the military, according to a review of public reports.
Former President Donald Trump announced the ban in 2017, citing concerns that the military needed to be focused on achieving “a decisive and overwhelming victory” without being “burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.” Walz was vocal about his disapproval of the ban during Trump’s tenure, initially decrying it as “completely unacceptable” and warning that prohibiting transgender individuals from joining the military undermines its readiness, according to multiple reports.
There is an open debate as to whether transgender individuals should be allowed to serve in the military. As of 2021, 66% of Americans polled said they supported the notion, down from 71% in 2019, according to Gallup.
“After 24 years of service as an enlisted soldier, I know what it takes to build cohesive teams in our military. This President [Trump], who hasn’t served a day of his life in uniform, does not,” Waltz said in a now archived statement in 2017. “Let me be clear: serving alongside troops who happen to be different from you is not a challenge.”
The President’s ban on our transgender brothers and sisters in the military is not only wrong, but weakens our national security.
As Commander-in-Chief of @MNNationalGuard, I will do everything in my power to make sure that anyone who is willing and able to serve, can. #mngov pic.twitter.com/hqVLAcUd9j
— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) January 23, 2019
“This announcement is a clear indication that the President fails to understand a fundamental truth: our troops are capable professionals who can carry out any mission this nation requires,” Waltz said in the statement. “This is nothing more than the President using American lives to attempt to distract from his own political problems.”
The Trump administration made a revision to the ban in 2018, “set forth by the [former] Secretary of Defense,” statingthat “transgender persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria — individuals who the policies state may require substantial medical treatment, including medications and surgery — are disqualified from military service except under certain limited circumstances.”
In a January 2019 statement, Waltz said that it was “not only wrong but weakens our national security” to not allow transgender people to serve.
President Trump has disrespected the service and sacrifice of our brave transgender troops all for the purpose of distracting from his own scandals.
In addition to ending this disgraceful ban, @realDonaldTrump owes our entire military an apology.
— Fmr. Rep. Tim Walz (@RepTimWalz) March 24, 2018
“We will not allow this situation to be used as a political football… We will uphold those very basic principles of inclusion and equity that each and every one of these troops and every single person in the state of Minnesota and across this country deserve,” Walz said.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Our transgender military members are true patriots. They deserve to be thanked, not attacked,” Walz said in a statement in the months following.
The transgender military ban was reversed in 2021 by the Biden administration. The Pentagon under the Biden administration has embraced several left-wing policies, including funding medical treatments for transgender individuals, embracing LGBTQ initiatives and reimbursing servicemembers if they travel out of state for an abortion.
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