Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) on Wednesday tore into President Trump’s decision to ban transgender people from serving in the military, saying the president is an “impotent leader” using fear of the transgender community “to score political points.”

“Banning any qualified person from serving their country, because of who they are is both discriminatory and bad national security policy,” Gallego said in a series of tweets.

The Arizona lawmaker, an Iraq War veteran, added that Trump will “never understand complex military needs” because he doesn’t have the “experience or intellectual capacity to learn.”

1. Banning any qualified person from serving their country, because of who they are is both discriminatory and bad national security policy. — Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) July 26, 2017

2. @realDonaldTrump will never understand complex military needs. He doesn't have the experience or intellectual capacity to learn. — Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) July 26, 2017

3. It is also ironic that @realDonaldTrump who did everything to avoid Vietnam is stopping Trans people who want to serve.

— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) July 26, 2017

4. Lets look what is going on here. @realDonaldTrump is an impotent leader. He is using fear of Trans community to score political points. — Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) July 26, 2017

5. Make sense now why @realDonaldTrump admires Putin. Both use fear of LGBTQ community to keep control of their base. — Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) July 26, 2017

Trump on Wednesday tweeted that he would ban transgender people from any military service, a major policy shift. He said he had made the decision after consulting with "my Generals and military experts."

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"After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military," Trump tweeted.

"Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you."

The decision is a reversal from an Obama administration decision last year that lifted the ban on allowing transgender people to serve openly.

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