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

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."

Huckabee said he considers the military to be "decimated" with outdated equipment. "We're flying B-52s, the most recent one was put in service in November of 1962," he said. "A lot of the B-52s we're flying, we've only got 44 in service combat ready, and the fact is most of them are older than me and that's pretty scary." Listen to his remarks in the video below. Catherine Garcia

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