Midterm Elections

Did Kyrsten Sinema Really Protest Troops In A Pink Tutu?

Rep. Martha McSally says her opponent in the race for Senate wore a pink tutu to protest troops after 9/11. That claim needs some context.

Did Kyrsten Sinema Really Protest Troops In A Pink Tutu?
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Republican Rep. Martha McSally is running a very close race for Senate in Arizona. She's trying to keep the seat in her party's hands.

Senator Jeff Flake is retiring. That's opened the door to Democrats, who are trying to flip the seat. They're running Rep. Kyrsten Sinema against McSally.

An attack ad from McSally's campaign claims Sinema protested against troops serving after 9/11, which included McSally.

"While we were in harm's way in uniform, Kyrsten Sinema was protesting us in a pink tutu, and denigrating our service," McSally said in the ad.

It's true Sinema protested against the war in Iraq. And yes, that's a real picture of her in a tutu during a protest in 2003. 

And Sinema has a history of speaking out against war in general, though she's claimed more recently she recognizes a distinction between all-out war and military intervention.

But Sinema's protests focused on policy that result in war, not on the people serving overseas. Her campaign points out she has family members who serve in uniform. Sinema has also backed measures to pay troops more and ensure benefits for veterans.

So yeah, Kyrsten Sinema protested the Iraq war in a pink tutu, but that doesn't necessarily mean she was protesting service members.