Gov. Doug Ducey praises Martha McSally after Air Force rape admission

PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey praised U.S. Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona after she admitted that she was raped by a superior officer while serving in the Air Force.

In a Thursday tweet, Ducey said the admission “took an amazing amount of courage and bravery. Thank you Martha for coming forward and speaking out. Arizona is with you.”

McSally, who served in the Air Force from 1988 until 2010, did not name the officer who she said raped her. She made the disclosure at a hearing on the armed services’ efforts to prevent sexual assaults and improve the response when they occur.

“I stayed silent for many years, but later in my career, as the military grappled with the scandals, and their wholly inadequate responses, I felt the need to let some people know I too was a survivor,” she said during the hearing.

“I was horrified at how my attempt to share generally my experiences were handled. I almost separated from the Air Force at 18 years of service over my despair. Like many victims, I felt like the system was raping me all over again.”

Several other high-profile Arizonans issued praise of McSally following her admission.

Cindy McCain, widow of U.S. Sen. John McCain, thanked the senator for her bravery. McSally was appointed to the seat that was held by McCain until his death last summer.

Thank you @SenMcSallyAZ for your bravery. Your courage will help thousands of women seek the help and justice they deserve.

— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) March 7, 2019

U.S. Rep. David Schweikert said McSally’s “bravery in coming forward about her personal experience must be commended, and her insight on how to fix a broken system is paramount to this conversation.”

Grant Woods, who floated a Senate bid where he would have presumably ran against McSally, called for action “so that this stops happening to our sons and daughters in the military.”

Some national lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Nikki Haley, also spoke out.

.@senatemajldr reacts to news that @SenMcSallyAZ was raped while in military: "Whatever policy prescriptions Senator McSally or Senator Ernst may come up with, we’d certainly be open to…This is obviously a big problem and if we can find a further way to address it we should.”

— Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders) March 6, 2019

Courage comes in different forms. @SenMcSallyAZ showed great strength and helped so many in the process by telling her story.
❤️🇺🇸 #StrongWomen https://t.co/xKKrIHFhU5

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) March 7, 2019

In a Thursday tweet, McSally thanked her supporters for the “outpouring of support. It means a lot for all who have reached out.”

Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Carrie Volpe told The Associated Press the Air Force is appalled by what happened to McSally and is “deeply sorry.”

Volpe said the actions McSally described are criminal and violate ever part of what it means to be an Airman.

McSally, who was the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat, also revealed during her Senate campaign that she was sexually abused by a high school track coach.

The Arizona Republican spoke to CBS News on Thursday, saying she felt like she needed to speak for other women in the military who had been sexually assaulted.

“The command chain has to step up and do their job to rid us of sexual assault,” she said.

“I don’t want people to think, ‘Well, maybe it’s all these problems we have now that women are in the military,'” McSally added.

“Think about it, if you have a predator, if you have a rapist who is serving in uniform, you don’t deal with it by keeping a woman out of their unit. Because that predator is going to go assault someone else. ”

.@SenMcSallyAZ revealed yesterday she was raped by a superior officer while serving in the Air Force.

In her first interview since coming forward with the revelation, McSally spoke to @NorahODonnell: "Don't let your assaulter rob you of your future" https://t.co/xAfnK5zmIQ pic.twitter.com/JGi8IEblRo

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) March 7, 2019

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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