Sebastian Gorka tells the BBC that Trump's transgender troops ban is “out of the warmth of his consideration for this population”

From the July 28 edition of BBC's Radio 4's Today

Video file

PETER BOWES (HOST): Let me ask you about the issue of transgender troops who were encouraged to come out under the previous administration and now they are being told that they will not be able to serve in the military. Does that feel to you like a commander in chief who cares about the men and women who fight, often, and serve, certainly, for the good of all Americans?

GORKA: Absolutely, that's why he made that decision --

BOWES: How can that be the case when although it's a small group of people, admittedly, how can that be the case when he has singled out transgender soldiers who have been serving for the last year openly and legally --

GORKA: Will you let me answer?

BOWES: Of course, but how can it be the case that he's speaking for the whole military if he is speaking out against one section of the military?

GORKA: The military is not a microcosm of civilian society. They are not there to reflect America. They are there to kill people and blow stuff up. They are not there to be socially engineered. We want people who are transgendered to live happy lives, but we want unit cohesion and we want combat effectiveness. There are leading studies from the medical establishment, for example, that state that the transgender community has a 40 percent suicide attempt rate. That is a tragedy. We need to help those people, we don't need to try and force them into the hierarchical military environment where they are under the utmost pressure to kill or be killed, and that is why the president is doing this out of the warmth of his consideration for this population. 

BOWES: Probably doesn't feel like “warmth” from the transgender perspective. 

GORKA: But we're not here to represent one part of America. We're here to represent all of America and protect Americans.

Previously:

Trump's trans military ban eschews years of research in favor of junk science from a hate group

CNN Pentagon reporter: Trump banning transgender troops “in any capacity” means Pentagon may have to “go on a search” and purge them

Right-wing media and hate groups applaud Trump for banning transgender people from serving in the US armed forces