• Press Release

McSally Refuses to Denounce Trump’s “Shithole” Remarks

January 12, 2018

January 12, 2018

Washington, D.C. — As Martha McSally enters the Arizona Senate Republican primary, Christina Reynolds, ​vice president of communications at EMILYs List, released the following statement:

“The day after Donald Trump's latest racist controversy, new Arizona Senate candidate Martha McSally launched her campaign by praising Trump and supporting his un-American views. Arizona voters deserve better.”

“McSally's right-wing maneuvering is just another example of the costly divisiveness rocking Republican primaries across the country that will no doubt demoralize voters and force all of the candidates to take extreme positions that are out of touch and out of step with Arizona families.”

According to an AP reporter, when asked whether Trump's “shithole” comments were racist, McSally refused to denounce his remarks by saying, “I speak a little salty behind closed doors at times as well, so I'm not going to throw the first stone on using any language.” 

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $500 million to support pro-choice Democratic women candidates – making them one of the most successful political organizations ever. Our grassroots community of over five million members helps Democratic women wage competitive campaigns – and win. We recruit and train candidates, support strong campaigns, research the issues that impact women and families, and turn out women voters. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 116 women to the House, 23 to the Senate, 12 governors, and over 800 to state and local office. Forty percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Since the 2016 election, thousands of women and counting have reached out to us about running for office. To harness this energy, EMILYs List has launched Run to Win, an unprecedented effort to get more women to run at the local, state, and national levels.