Mike Huckabee: 'The purpose of the military is to kill people and break things'

Mike Huckabee.
(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

When asked during the Fox News Republican debate about his thoughts on transgender people in the military, Mike Huckabee said it's "not a social experiment," and that the purpose of the military is "to kill people and break things."

"It's not to transform the culture by trying out some ideas that some people think would make us a different country and more diverse," he continued. "The purpose is to protect America. I'm not sure how paying for transgender surgery for soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines makes our country safer." He transitioned to berating President Obama for "reducing the military by 25 percent," adding, "the disaster is we've forgotten why we have a military. The purpose of it is to make sure we protect every American where that American is, and if an American is calling out for help, whether it's in Benghazi or at the border, then we ought to be able to."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.