Kyrsten Sinema.Photo: Alex Wong/Getty
According to reports, the centrist Democrat whose vote is key to ongoing negotiations over a major spending bill, could be heard saying “don’t touch me” as a woman who identified herself as a constituent confronted the lawmaker about climate change.
In the video, Sinema tells Scott: “Sorry about this.”
“I think it’s par for the course,” Scott said, according to the outlet.
In a statement to PEOPLE, a Sinema spokesperson said “Kyrsten and our team regularly meet with individuals and groups from across Arizona on a consistent basis, including a recent roundtable on local infrastructure issues.”
The Monday incident comes on the heels of another confrontation earlier this month at Arizona State University, were Sinema is a lecturer.
Footage of that incident show the protesters walking up to the bathroom stall as Sinema enters and shuts it behind her.
One day later, Sinemareleased a statementcalling the events at ASU “unacceptable.”
“Yesterday, several individuals disrupted my class at Arizona State University. After deceptively entering a locked, secure building, these individuals filmed and publicly posted videos of my students without their permission — including footage taken of both my students and I using a restroom,” the statement read.
Sinema added then that the protesters were members of an activist group that “both my team and I have met with several times since I was elected to the Senate.”
Sinema’s unorthodox politics — described as either moderate or uncooperative, depending on the view — have made her a divisive figure among Democrats since she won her race in 2018.
Over the summer,nearly 50 liberal activists were arrestedprotesting outside of Sinema’s Arizona office in the wake of her vote against the $15 minimum wage and her refusal to eliminate the filibuster in order to pass new voting rights legislation this year even as advocates said such reforms were crucial.
“Kyrsten has always promised Arizonans she would be an independent voice for the state — not for either political party,” a spokesmantoldThe New York Timesearlier this year. “She’s delivered on that promise and has always been honest about where she stands.”
source: people.com
