Sen. Martha McSally ‘had tears in eyes’ twice during State of the Union

PHOENIX – Sen. Martha McSally, a former Air Force pilot, said she choked up during two emotional moments of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night.

“This is the first time I had tears in my eyes at a State of the Union address,” McSally told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Wednesday.

The first moment was when Trump recognized retired Air Force pilot Charles McGee, a 100-year-old Tuskegee Airman in the House chamber with his Arizona great-grandson, whom the president said is a potential recruit for the newly formed Space Force.

“That just took my breath away,” McSally said.

McGee is one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American World War II pilots and crew members. Trump had given McGee an honorary promotion from colonel to brigadier general earlier Monday.

His great-grandson, Iain Lanphier, is an eighth-grader from Scottsdale. Trump said he was among the youngest students at an aviation academy and hopes to attend the Air Force Academy.

McSally was overwhelmed by emotion again when Sgt. 1st Class Townsend Williams, a soldier deployed to Afghanistan, came out for a surprise reunion with his wife and two children.

“I really had to kind of hold it together,” she said. “I’ve been through that. I’ve seen it many times. And to have that surprise happen right there in front of America I though was just an extraordinary gift.”

The impact of the moment was magnified for McSally because her State of the Union guest was Tucson’s Hope Harrison, whose husband, Dustin, was killed in a terrorist attack in Kenya last month while he was working as a Department of Defense contractor.

“I know she was there wishing that she was going to have that reunion someday and she won’t, because he gave the ultimate sacrifice,” McSally said. “So that was really heart-wrenching as well.”

Related

Arizona political leaders react to Trump's State of the Union speechArizona political leaders choose guests for State of the UnionMcSally: Slow Iowa caucus result of 'buffoonery' and 'incompetence'Mesa collision leaves 2 dead, 2 seriously injuredTohono O’odham Nation posts ‘No Trespassing’ signs for border wall crewsArizona economist warns credit card delinquency rates approaching pre-2008 crisis levels