During his interview with Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday, Donald Trump attempted to defend his controversial position on transgender people in the US military.
The Trump administration attempted to impose bans on all transgender people serving in the US military back in 2017, with the US Supreme Court officially allowing the restrictions to resume in January of this year.
As June marks Pride month around the world, Trump was quizzed on this divisive stance against trans people and claimed that he opposes them serving their country because of the number of drugs they take.
'You have to have a standard and you have to stick by that standard.' The POTUS defends his decision to ban transg… https://t.co/sGF0q9oSvW— Good Morning Britain (@Good Morning Britain) 1559716686
They take massive amounts of drugs, they have to, and you’re not allowed to take drugs.
I’m proud of them, but you have to have a standard, and you have to stick by that standard, and we have a great military and I want to keep it that way.
Trump's quotes appear to be based on an unclear amount of figures and statistics which he has referred to before.
Trump's stance flies in the face of a tweet that he posted on May 31 where he expressed his solidarity with LGBT+ people, a tweet which Morgan, in all fairness, called him out as a complete contradiction of his military ban.
Meanwhile, Trump's predecessor in the White House, Barack couldn't have been more different and clear in his support of transgender people.
Just hours before Trump's comments on Good Morning Britain, Obama retweeted a bisexual Sikh man named Jiwandeep Kohli who expressed how fortunate he felt to be able to express his identity
I’m proud to be a bisexual bearded baking brain scientist. I feel fortunate to be able to express all these aspects… https://t.co/zBA8jHtkcQ— Jiwandeep Kohli (@Jiwandeep Kohli) 1559424859
In his retweet, Obama thanked Jiwandeep for everything that he is doing to help spread equality and also complimented him on his fetching turban.
You've got a lot to be proud of, Jiwandeep. Thanks for everything you do to make this country a little more equal.… https://t.co/qw8I8io4pc— Barack Obama (@Barack Obama) 1559669210
In response, people praised Obama for this simple and heartfelt message, while others criticised Trump's hypocritical comments on trans people.
@BarackObama President Obama sharing this story means so much to so many of us. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜— Simran Jeet Singh (@Simran Jeet Singh) 1559672084
@BarackObama So this is how it’s done. I forgot.— joeb (@joeb) 1559669526
@BarackObama It was nice to have a president who celebrated Americans of ALL backgrounds and faiths. America's str… https://t.co/kQkH6gnaTm— One Patient Wolf (@One Patient Wolf) 1559670290
Trump: “They take massive amounts of drugs” Truth: Pentagon spends more on erectile-dysfunction drugs than transi… https://t.co/Px6pgomtg7— Susanna Reid (@Susanna Reid) 1559716989
"You have to be a bigot, and stick to being a bigot." Which is why his base is loyal. https://t.co/xBtTnBPVXx— Laurence Lewis (@Laurence Lewis) 1559724056
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