--- title: Ben Carson Fondly Remembers 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' description: Ben Carson said that he likes the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prevented people from being openly homosexual in the military canonical: https://time.com/4137771/ben-carson-dont-ask-dont-tell/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-06T15:53:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:52.260Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ben Carson Fondly Remembers 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' og:description: And says he doesn't want transgender troops to serve og:url: https://time.com/4137771/ben-carson-dont-ask-dont-tell/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt971271dff6dca8c5/698873b5524fc0782ddf5bff/ben-carson.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks to guests at a barbeque hosted by Jeff Kauffman, chairman of the Republican party of Iowa, on November 22, 2015 in Wilton, Iowa. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ben Carson Fondly Remembers 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' twitter:description: And says he doesn't want transgender troops to serve twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt971271dff6dca8c5/698873b5524fc0782ddf5bff/ben-carson.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ben Carson Fondly Remembers 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=74e116e3-5045-47de-9327-3d9408bf51bf&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Ben Carson Take On the Media at the GOP Debate [Watch (HLS stream): Ben Carson Take On the Media at the GOP Debate](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bTYX0g8C.m3u8) (1:26)  _Published 2015-11-11. Clip 9 Carson on His Life Story_1_  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Dec 6, 2015 3:53 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks to guests at a barbeque hosted by Jeff Kauffman, chairman of the Republican party of Iowa, on November 22, 2015 in Wilton, Iowa. Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks to guests at a barbeque hosted by Jeff Kauffman, chairman of the Republican party of Iowa, on November 22, 2015 in Wilton, Iowa. Scott Olson—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Dec 6, 2015 3:53 PM UTC Presidential candidate Ben Carson said that he likes the old “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that prevented people from being openly homosexual in the military. Speaking at a veterans town hall in Iowa Saturday, Carson said he doesn’t appreciate “using our military as a laboratory for social experimentation,” [NBC reports](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/ben-carson-military-deal-transgender-thing-somewhere-else-n474936?cid=sm%5Ffb). Carson said he would allow women to serve in combat positions, but drew the line at transgender people.”You know, we have too many important things to do,” he said. “When our men and women are out there fighting the enemy, the last thing that we need to be doing is saying what would it be like if we introduced several transgender people into this platoon… You know, give me a break. Deal with the transgender thing somewhere else.” Carson also said he preferred the old policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” which ended in 2011 and prevented gay people from serving openly in the military. In July, the Pentagon announced it would begin [allowing transgender people](http://time.com/3956512/transgender-military-service-ban-2/) to serve in the military. ## Transcript [ APPLAUSE ] But, the fact of the matter is, you know, we should vet all the candidates. I have no problem with being vetted. What I do have a problem with is being lied about, and then putting that out there as truth, and [ APPLAUSE ] [ APPLAUSE ] I don't even mind that so much if they do it with everybody like people on the other side. But when I look at somebody like Hilary Clinton, who sits there and tells her daughter and a government official. That, no, this was a terrorist attack and then tells everybody else, no that it was a video. Where I came from they call that a lie. [ APPLAUSE ] I think that's very different from. You know somebody misinterpreting when I said that I was offered a scholarship to West Point. That's the words that they used. But, I've had many people come and say the same thing to me. That's what people do in those situations. We have to start treating people the same. And finding out what people really think and what they're made of. And people who know me, know that I'm an honest person. [ APPLAUSE ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4137771/ben-carson-dont-ask-dont-tell/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4137771/ben-carson-dont-ask-dont-tell/"},"headline":"Ben Carson Fondly Remembers 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'","datePublished":"2015-12-06T15:53:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:41:52.260Z","description":"He also spoke out against transgender people serving in the military","url":"https://time.com/4137771/ben-carson-dont-ask-dont-tell/","keywords":["2016 Election","Military","2016 Election","Dr. Benjamin S. 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