Santorum Clarifies "Emotions" Argument Against Women in Combat
The White House hopeful says he's more worried about how men would handle the experience.
| Posted Friday, Feb. 10, 2012, at 10:56 AM
Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images.
It is men's emotions, not women's, that Rick Santorum is worried about.
The White House hopeful on Friday attempted to clarify his recent remarks that appeared to suggest he believed that female soldiers should not be allowed closer to the frontlines of battle because they are too emotional to carry out their mission.
"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," Santorum said in an interview with CNN on Thursday, responding to a question about a Pentagon plan to ease restrictions on women serving in combat zones.
Some observers, including Washington Post conservative blogger Jennifer Rubin, were quick to point out that Santorum couldn’t afford to make such a statement with women making up half the workforce and surpassing men in Bachelor’s degrees.
In an interview with NBC's Today show on Friday, Santorum insisted that his original comments were taken out of context and that his concerns centered on what he said was a man's natural instinct to come to the aid of a woman.
"When you have men and women together in combat, I think men have the emotions when you see a woman in harm’s way. I think that’s something that’s natural, that’s very much in our culture to be protective," Santorum said.
Here's the original CNN interview:
