Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell slammed Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum Monday over comments the Pennsylvania Republican made about the role of women in combat last week.
“I do have concerns about women in front-line combat, I think that could be a very compromising situation, where people naturally may do things that may not be in the interest of the mission, because of other types of emotions that are involved,” Mr. Santorum told CNN’s John King Thursday.
“I like Rick Santorum a lot. I just disagree with any inference that he might have made that somehow women are not capable of serving in the frontlines and serving in combat positions,” Mr. McDonnell said on CNN in response to Mr. Santorum’s comments.
Mr. McDonnell did not hide the fact that his daughter’s service in the U.S. Armed Forces colored his reaction to Mr. Santorum’s comments. “I base that in part on my own daughter’s own experience as a platoon leader in Iraq with 25 men working with her,” Mr. McDonnell posited. “She did a great job, was in some risky situations, and yet endured and led and I’m proud of her,” Mr. McDonnell added.
Mr. Santorum’s comments were a response to the Pentagon’s recent decision to allow women to serve closer to the frontlines. The Associated Press reports that the Pentagon’s decision will reverse a 1994 policy that prevented women from being placed in combat units below the brigade level.
Mr. Santorum explained his comments on NBC’s “Today” Friday. “When you have men and women together in combat, I think there’s — men have emotions when you see a woman in harm’s way. I think it’s something that’s natural, that’s very much in our culture to be protective, and that was my concern,” Mr. Santorum posited.
When Mr. McDonnell was asked what he thought of the Pennsylvania Republican’s clarification of his position, the Virginia governor said that “there was at least an inference to the contrary that women are not up to speed and aren’t capable of leading and that I absolutely disagree with.”
