Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Sunday said he opposed requiring women to register for a potential draft.
Speaking at a town hall in Peterborough, New Hampshire, Cruz remarked on a portion of Saturday night's presidential debate where several candidates, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), weighed in on the topic.
“I have to admit, as I was sitting there listening to that conversation, my reaction was, ‘Are you guys nuts?’” Cruz said, according to Politico. “Listen, 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 close combat, I think is wrong, it is immoral, and if I am president, we ain’t doing it."
At Saturday's Republican debate in Manchester, Bush, Christie and Rubio all indicated support for women registering with the Selective Service if necessary.
"I have no problem whatsoever with people of either gender serving in combat so long as the minimum requirements necessary to do the job are not compromised," Rubio said. "I support that. Now that that is the case, I do believe Selective Service should be opened up for both men and women in the case a draft is ever instituted."
Cruz says he opposed the notion of a draft for women because of his two young daughters.
"I'm the father of two little girls. I love those girls with all of my heart. They are capable of doing anything their hearts' desire. But the idea that their government would forcibly put them in a foxhole with a 220-pound psychopath trying to kill them doesn't make any sense," he said.
Last year, Cruz said he was open to reinstating the ban on openly LGBT military members known as "don't ask, don't tell," which was repealed by the Obama administration.
"We shouldn't view the military as a cauldron for social experiments," he said
