Republican presidential candidate Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] said Sunday proposing to force women to sign up for the draft is the result of dangerous political correctness, and if he were president, he would make sure to put a stop to it.
Cruz’s bold statements puts him in complete contrast to other GOP presidential candidates, The Wall Street Journal reports. At the Republican debate Saturday evening, Sen. [crscore]Marco Rubio[/crscore], former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stated if a military draft ever were to come into play again, women should have to sign up.
“As I was sitting there listening to that conversation, my reaction was, ‘Are you guys nuts?'” Cruz told a town hall audience Sunday, according to Politico. “We have had enough with political correctness, especially in the military. Political correctness is dangerous, and the idea that we would draft our daughters to forcibly bring them into the military and put them in combat, I think is wrong. It is immoral and if I am president, we ain’t doing it.”
Cruz then added the thought of his two daughters facing off against a 220-pound psychopath is beyond the pale.
The discussion of whether women should have to sign up for Selective Service erupted last week after a Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing, in which two top generals said they supported women in the draft, given that combat roles have now opened up to all genders. Following the remarks of Army Gen. Mark Milley and Marine Corps Gen. Robert Neller, two GOP lawmakers, Reps. [crscore]Duncan Hunter[/crscore] and [crscore]Ryan Zinke[/crscore], introduced legislation that would require women to sign up for the draft.
Hunter, a Marine Corps veteran, said although he introduced the legislation, it’s so noxious to him personally that he may even vote against it. For Hunter, the point of the bill is to illustrate that an equal draft is an inevitable consequence of equal access to all combat roles. If an equal draft is absurd, then so is opening up all combat positions to women.
The draft has not been in place since the Vietnam War.
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