Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) lamented on Monday that the U.S. military’s effort to allow transgender individuals to serve will take away from its main focus.

“How about having the military focusing on hunting down and killing the bad guys…instead of treating it as this crucible for social justice innovations,” the presidential candidate said at a campaign event in Iowa, according to the Washington Post. “We’ve lost sight of what their job is and that’s what we need to get back to.”

Cruz made the comments when asked about the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and what he would do about those policies as president. The senator said he would “listen to the expert judgment of the generals and admirals.” He added that the military should focus on “good order and discipline” instead of social issues, according to the Post.

“We shouldn’t view the military as a cauldron for social experiments,” he said.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) has also criticized the military’s decision to lift its ban on transgender troops.

“The military is not a social experiment. The purpose of the military is kill people and break things,” Huckabee said during first Republican presidential debate. “It is not to transform the culture by trying out some ideas that some people think would make us a different country and more diverse. The purpose is to protect America. I’m not sure how paying for transgender surgery for soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines makes our country safer.”