Booker vows to reverse ‘ridiculous’ transgender military ban if elected president

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) blasted the Trump administration’s “ridiculous” ban on transgender military service members over the weekend, according to NBC News, and vowed to repeal it if elected president.

“When I am president of the United States, right away I will end this ridiculous, insulting, un-American ban on transgender Americans serving in the military,” Booker said in Davenport, Iowa, responding to a question from a transgender audience member about steps he would take to safeguard LGBTQ rights as president, the network reported.

Booker followed up on his remarks on Monday, adding in a post on Twitter that, regardless of who was elected, the next president should immediately repeal the “un-American” policy.

Trump’s ban on transgender Americans serving in the military is insulting and deeply un-American. The next president should immediately end this ridiculous policy—if elected, I plan to do so. https://t.co/qcXR4HGlRr

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) March 18, 2019

{mosads}Booker has vocally opposed the ban since it was announced in 2017, saying in July of that year that it “flies in the face of the values the United States was built upon,” as well as “undermines our national security and makes our military forces weaker.”

Booker in Iowa also reportedly pledged to reverse several other Trump administration policies, including 2017’s tax cuts and the repeal of protection against deportation from some immigrants without legal status who came to the U.S. as children.