Rick Perry Criticizes Obama for Repealing 'Dont Ask, Don't Tell'
Texas Gov. Rick Perry criticized President Obama Tuesday for his decision to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," allowing gays to serve openly in the military.
Obama repealed the policy as a political statement to appeal to his political base, according to Perry in an ABC News and Yahoo News interview with Christiane Amanpour.
"The President of the United States changing a policy that was working well and to do it while we were at war in two different theaters is irresponsible," said the GOP candidate.
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Amanpour asked Perry, who was is the Air Force from 1972 to 1977, if he would feel uncomfortable serving with gay members.
"I don't ask that question, and I think that’s the issue right there. If an individual in their private life makes a decision about their sexuality from the standpoint of how they are going to practice it that is their business. I do not think that question needs to be asked. That’s the reason Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was in fact a workable policy and that’s where I would be comfortable with our country going back to that," Perry responded.
Don't Ask, Don't Tell was signed into law by then President Bill Clinton in December 1993 and was repealed in September 2011.
Perry once topped the polls in the GOP race but has fallen as Herman Cain's numbers continue to surge.
The governor has become increasingly vocal on social issues over the past few weeks. At a conservative event in New Hampshire, he urged the state to repeal a 2009 law legalizing same-sex marriage. He also praised state efforts to end all government contracts with Planned Parenthood because the clinic provides abortions.
Perry signed a bill earlier this year in his home state of Texas cutting Planned Parenthood from government funds.
