J.R. Majewski, the embattled GOP Home candidate in Ohio who embellished his army service, stated Friday that he didn’t lie about deploying to Afghanistan, following a bombshell Related Press report.
“The orders and the army information that I’ve been capable of receive from my private information reveals that every one of my deployments are listed as labeled,” Majewski said throughout a press convention, after the AP reported Wednesday that the Air Power has no information of the MAGA Republican seeing fight in Afghanistan, as he’s claimed publicly quite a few occasions.
Majewski, who turned a big swath of his garden right into a mural for then-President Donald Trump in 2020, additionally stated that he might sue the wire service’s reporters and, if elected, would pursue a legislation “that might make it a criminal offense to besmirch veterans.” He additionally stated that he has images from his time in Afghanistan and “was in a number of bases,” however he declined to call any when pressed.
“Marcy Kaptur and The Related Press, you’re a shame to veterans who serve this nation. I demand a public apology,” Majewski stated, referring to his Democratic opponent within the Home race. He additionally known as AP’s investigation a “hit piece” by “a liberal journalist.”
The nationwide GOP all however deserted Ohio’s ninth District after the revelation, with the Home Republican marketing campaign committee canceling practically $1 million in adverts for the Toledo market — an indication that it’s shedding confidence in Majewski’s means to oust Kaptur, probably the most tenured lady within the chamber.
“Majewski’s … deceptive claims have to be addressed, and it’s incumbent upon him to supply honesty and readability — not continued evasiveness and deflection,” stated Kaptur’s marketing campaign, in keeping with native outlet 13abc.
Shortly after the investigation dropped, election forecasters on the College of Virginia’s Heart for Politics modified their ranking for the district from “Toss-up” to “Leans Democratic.”
Majewski has touted himself as an Air Power veteran who deployed to Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 terrorist assaults, dealing with “powerful” circumstances like an absence of operating water. However the AP investigation revealed that the army department solely has information of Majewski being stationed in Japan and Qatar.
A booster of the QAnon conspiracy motion who as soon as stated that Republican-leaning states ought to secede from the nation, the Ohioan is among the many extremist candidates the GOP nominated to compete in swing districts this yr. Nonetheless, Majewski has not too long ago sought to mood his rhetoric, saying that he regretted being on the Capitol in the course of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and eradicating anti-abortion statements from his web site.
Doubling down on his army claims is unlikely to endear Majewski to swing voters in what nationwide Republicans thought can be a simple midterm pickup. GOP legislators had redrawn Kaptur right into a conservative-leaning district that Trump received by 3 factors in 2020, probably jeopardizing her reelection prospects.
Nonetheless, together with the make-up of the district, demographic shifts which have made Ohio a extra reliably Republican state imply Majewski’s candidacy isn’t over but.
“‘Lean D’ isn’t ‘secure D.’ If Majewski received, I wouldn’t be that stunned,” Kyle Kondik, the managing editor of the Sabato’s Crystal Ball e-newsletter at UVA’s Heart for Politics, informed HuffPost.
“However I additionally assume that given he has plenty of weaknesses as a candidate to start with, Kaptur’s been round endlessly, and he had this double whammy of reports the previous few days … I feel that’s sufficient to take a look at Kaptur as the favourite. We’ll see how issues develop. There’s nonetheless time for different teams to become involved.”