PHOENIX, AZ — A state senator is in hot water after making controversial remarks last week in an interview with Arizona Foothills Magazine. The full interview, which is to be released Friday, includes contentious quotes on military service-members, the constitution, and defense spending.
Senator Linda Lopez (D-29, Ariz.), a member of the Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, was apparently quoted during the interview as saying "the troops should just go fuck themselves." Lopez continues to claim that her remarks have been "taken out of context" and that she is in fact a huge supporter of the U.S. military.
It's not the first time Lopez is being questioned for something she said. In the wake of the Gabrielle Giffords' shooting, she told an interviewer that the shooter was "probably a veteran of Afghanistan." The shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, had no military experience.
Her most recent remarks come after a vote in the Committee to improve education benefits and mental health services for veterans of all service branches. Lopez opposed the bill and was the only no vote, telling reporters that she opposed it on constitutional grounds. When pressed further, she admitted however, that "she hates the fucking constitution."
