Martha McSally, a Republican candidate to fill former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' congressional seat, made national headlines today by telling Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum that she wanted "to kick him in the jimmy."
During an interview Friday morning on Fox & Friends, McSally responded to comments made by Santorum about talk of the military easing up on rules for women in combat. In an interview Santorum said that move could compromise the interests of mission because of "other types of emotions that are involved."
"I agree with many of the things that Rick Santorum says," McSally said. "But when I heard this I really just wanted to go kick him in the jimmy."
When the announcer repeated her phrase, "Kick him in the jimmy?" McSally continued:
"Yeah, he's totally out of touch. I mean, completely out of touch," McSally said. "These are the kind of arguments we heard 20-25 years ago as to why women couldn't be fighter pilots. It's an insult to the men and women who are serving overseas, putting their lives on the line and focusing on the mission right now."
McSally is the first woman to fly fighters in combat for the Air Force, and the first woman to command a fighter squadron in combat.
She said during the interview she looks forward to bring Santorum up to speed when he comes to Tucson next week. Santorum is scheduled to be the speaker at a Tucson Tea Party event next Wednesday at 10 a.m. at at the Sabbar Shrine Temple, 450 S. Tucson Blvd. The event is free.
McSally is one of five Republicans in the GOP primary for the CD8 seat, along with state Sen. Frank Antenori; sports broadcaster and businessman Dave Sitton; Jesse Kelly, who narrowly lost to Giffords in 2010; and John Lervold of Sierra Vista.
The primary is set for April 17 and the special general election will be on June 12.
This is hardly McSally's first foray into the national spotlight.
In 1994, McSally was the Air Force's first woman to fly in combat.
In 2001, McSally sued the Pentagon over its requirement that military women serving in Saudi Arabia wear abayas, or traditional black Muslim cloaks, off base. She said the practice was offensive to her as a Christian.
After the Supreme Court agreed, McSally said the military retaliated against her by giving her poor performance reviews and deeming her unfit for leadership positions. She vowed to continue a legal battle against the Air Force until her career prospects were restored.
Then in 2004, she was named commander of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base's 354th Fighter Squadron, a position she held until 2006. She dropped her suit at the time.
She commanded a squadron of A-10 attack jets in Afghanistan.
After that, she was sent to the Air War College in Alabama, where she finished first in a class of 225 people being groomed as senior leaders. She spent her final three years in the Air Force in Stuttgart, Germany.
Since retiring from the Air Force in 2010, she's been a professor of National Security Studies at the George C. Marshall Center in Germany, where she taught government officials from around the world about national and international security issues.
