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Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, known for his sometimes outspoken views on social issues, said Thursday that the military “is not a social experiment” when asked about how he would handle transgender troops serving in the armed forces.

“The purpose of the military is to kill people and break things. It’s not to transform the culture by trying out some ideas that some people think would make us a different country and more diverse,” Huckabee said at the first Republican presidential debate.

“The purpose of it is that we protect every American,” he added.