Ex-Sen. McSally says she was sexually assaulted during jog

Former Arizona Republican Sen. Martha McSally said she was sexually assaulted while jogging in Iowa along the Missouri River.

McSally said in a video posted Wednesday on Instagram that she is "okay" but "still in an adrenaline state" after the incident, which occurred the day that she was scheduled to speak in Omaha, Nebraska.

"A man came up behind me, and he engulfed me in a bear hug, and he molested and fondled me until I fought him off," she said as she described the situation. "I then chased him down. I said a lot of swear words.

"In this moment, I was in a 'fight, flight or freeze,' and I chose to fight. I ran after him. I threw my water bottle at him. And I chased him into the brush, where he was then hiding, as I called 911 and waited for the police to come. I don’t think they found him."

McSally, who has discussed her experience in the Air Force when she was raped by a superior officer, said she is still processing the incident that occurred Wednesday.. 

"I know it’s tapped into a nerve of other sexual abuse and assault that I’ve been through in the past, which I’ve healed from as much as I feel can be done," she said. "But in this case, I felt like I took my power back. He tried to take power from me, but I turned it on him, and he was running from me, instead of the other way around."

McSally replaced the late Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain and held his seat from January 2019 until December 2020, after she was beaten by Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly.

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