Kyrsten Sinema speaking at a Congressional panel at the Arizona Chamber of Commerce’s Manufacturer of the Year summit in Phoenix, Ariz. (Gage Skidmore)

Democrat Kyrsten Sinema, who is currently locked in a tough race with Representative Martha McSally for the open Senate seat in their native Arizona, once said “I don’t care” if people join the Taliban and fight against the U.S. military.

Sinema made the comments in an appearance on libertarian Ernest Hancock’s radio show on Valentine’s Day, 2003, a day before she helped organize an anti-war rally in Phoenix’s Patriot’s Square Park that condemned “terror” perpetrated by the American military in the Middle East.


“As an individual, if I want to go fight in the Taliban army, I go over there and I’m fighting for the Taliban. I’m saying that’s a personal decision,” Hancock remarked during his show.

“Fine,” Sinema said, “I don’t care if you want to do that, go ahead.”

When asked about the comment by CNN, Sinema campaign spokeswoman Helen Hare called it “clearly offhand and an effort to get back on the topic of why she opposed the war.”


Sinema wrote in 2006 that, “As one of the core organizers against the war from day one [September 12, 2011], I have always and will always continue to oppose war in all its forms.” She has since softened her stance, arguing that military intervention should be a last resort if aggressive diplomacy fails.

“The implications here are misleading, ridiculous, and yet another example of the lies and distortions that the McSally campaign and her Washington allies are using to try to hide McSally’s record of voting to hurt Arizonans on the issues they actually care about, like protections for pre-existing conditions,” Hare said in a statement to CNN.

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