Blake Hall
Anyone who caught last Thursday’s GOP debate heard a lot of talk about boosting the military and taking down ISIS, but veterans didn’t come up until the final question when Megyn Kelly asked Sen. Marco Rubio to say something about God and the plight of America’s military veterans.
Originally, Kelly only intended to ask Rubio about religion. Her additional question about veterans was spurred by Gold Star war widow Jane Horton, who spoke up to bring the issue to center stage.
Horton’s husband, U.S. Army sniper Spc. Christopher Horton, was killed in Afghanistan in 2011. When the debate was in commercial break, Horton approached Kelly at the moderator’s table to ask if a question about veterans was waiting in the wings. There wasn’t one on the itinerary, and Horton convinced Kelly to squeeze one in.
Paul Rieckhoff, founder and chief executive of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, confirmed that Horton was the one to approach Kelly via Twitter.
Since her husband’s death, Horton has used her column in The Huffington Post to discuss veterans and military families. She was also involved in Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in 2012. Rieckhoff was thus not surprised when Horton boldly approached debate moderators to discuss veterans.
“[Horton’s] actions made us feel like someone was fighting for us. We were all screaming at our televisions … last night,” Rieckhoff told Task and Purpose. “Most of our community were waiting to hear our name, waiting for almost two hours … At that point of the night, it seemed like it wasn’t going to happen. I hope that Jane speaking up is a painful lesson learned for the folks running these debates. If you don’t mention our community, we’re going to make you mention it.”