When news broke that Republican House candidate J.R. Majewski’s self-proclaimed military record was filled with what right-wing viral YouTube clips would call “stolen valor,” it perfectly illustrated the hypocrisy of faketriots like Donald Trump and similar MAGA chickenhawks. Majewski’s campaign against Democratic candidate Marcy Kaptur in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District came to a screeching halt after his story about being deployed after Sept. 11, 2001 to Afghanistan turned out to be an enormous lie. The lie was so great, the valor so very stolen, that the GOP—not known for having anything resembling scruples—pulled out of spending upwards of $1 million on ads for Majewski.
On Wednesday, the Associated Press reported more inconsistencies between what Majewski says his military service was like—and what it was actually like. One of Majewski’s stories about his military service claimed that because he got into a “brawl” in an Air Force dormitory in 2001, he ended up demoted. According to that version of events (i.e. the fact-free version that Majewski told), the rebellious Majewski received a censure from the Air Force that prevented him from reenlisting. Guess what?
You got it! He lied.
RELATED STORY: The party of stolen valor just dropped a new lead character. Meet Ohio House candidate J.R. Majewski
According to the AP, military documents show the real reason Majewski was demoted and barred from reenlisting was because he was busted for driving while intoxicated on a U.S. air base in Japan. The disciplinary record the AP obtained explains it with this quote: “When you decided to get behind the wheel of a vehicle after indulging in intoxicating liquor you brought discredit upon yourself, 733rd Air Mobility Squadron, and the Air Force. Further misconduct by you of any type will not be tolerated.”
In Majewski’s defense, it was in the year 2001. So he got that part right, at least. The campaign did not respond to The New York Times’ requests for comment on the story, but Majewski did send a statement to the Associated Press:
Yes. No one is saying that you being a drunk driver, along with how much of a pathological liar you were, probably led to your military career being less productive than you might have hoped. The problem is that you continue to lie about both your achievements and your mistakes. That means two things: 1.) You haven’t grown enough to accept those mistakes and your responsibility for them, and 2.) you’re a liar. Listen: Donald Trump, the Grand Poobah of lying and liars like you, isn’t much better. Majewski at least enlisted in the service, whereas bunion-spur man Trump just had money and privilege to keep him out of the military.
Majewski could have saved himself a lot of grief if he just did what Trump does when lying: tell half the truth.
Just nix the “back” in that sentence and you can be just as full of shit as you were before, just as full of shit as Donald Trump, and half the liar you continue to be.
RELATED STORY: Republicans abandon GOP candidate in gerrymandered Ohio district who lied about Afghanistan service
This week on The Downballot we check in on Pennsylvania, where Republican Doug Mastriano has called for "40 days of fasting and prayer" to save his ailing campaign for governor; dig into ad spending numbers that show Democrats airing far more spots because they aren't relying on super PACs; circle back to the J.R. Majewski stolen valor scandal, which prompted the NRCC to cut him loose; and recap the dispiriting results of Italy's general election, which saw the far-right win for the first time since Mussolini.
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On Wednesday, the Associated Press reported more inconsistencies between what Majewski says his military service was like—and what it was actually like. One of Majewski’s stories about his military service claimed that because he got into a “brawl” in an Air Force dormitory in 2001, he ended up demoted. According to that version of events (i.e. the fact-free version that Majewski told), the rebellious Majewski received a censure from the Air Force that prevented him from reenlisting. Guess what?
You got it! He lied.
RELATED STORY: The party of stolen valor just dropped a new lead character. Meet Ohio House candidate J.R. Majewski
According to the AP, military documents show the real reason Majewski was demoted and barred from reenlisting was because he was busted for driving while intoxicated on a U.S. air base in Japan. The disciplinary record the AP obtained explains it with this quote: “When you decided to get behind the wheel of a vehicle after indulging in intoxicating liquor you brought discredit upon yourself, 733rd Air Mobility Squadron, and the Air Force. Further misconduct by you of any type will not be tolerated.”
In Majewski’s defense, it was in the year 2001. So he got that part right, at least. The campaign did not respond to The New York Times’ requests for comment on the story, but Majewski did send a statement to the Associated Press:
Yes. No one is saying that you being a drunk driver, along with how much of a pathological liar you were, probably led to your military career being less productive than you might have hoped. The problem is that you continue to lie about both your achievements and your mistakes. That means two things: 1.) You haven’t grown enough to accept those mistakes and your responsibility for them, and 2.) you’re a liar. Listen: Donald Trump, the Grand Poobah of lying and liars like you, isn’t much better. Majewski at least enlisted in the service, whereas bunion-spur man Trump just had money and privilege to keep him out of the military.
Majewski could have saved himself a lot of grief if he just did what Trump does when lying: tell half the truth.
Just nix the “back” in that sentence and you can be just as full of shit as you were before, just as full of shit as Donald Trump, and half the liar you continue to be.
RELATED STORY: Republicans abandon GOP candidate in gerrymandered Ohio district who lied about Afghanistan service
This week on The Downballot we check in on Pennsylvania, where Republican Doug Mastriano has called for "40 days of fasting and prayer" to save his ailing campaign for governor; dig into ad spending numbers that show Democrats airing far more spots because they aren't relying on super PACs; circle back to the J.R. Majewski stolen valor scandal, which prompted the NRCC to cut him loose; and recap the dispiriting results of Italy's general election, which saw the far-right win for the first time since Mussolini.
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