Another election cycle, another politician accused of stolen valor
VA Republican gubernatorial candidate Moore Capito
The above pictured photo is used on Moore Capito’s campaign site as he is running for Governor of Virginia on the Republican ticket. The photo is from his time on the staff of the Secretary of Defense. Since it’s a photo where he’s wearing a camo flak jacket, while carrying a helmet, and in front of a USAF C-17, he’s being accused of stolen valor.
To be clear, Capito has not claimed to be a veteran in any material we can find. Nor have his critics pointed to any such claim. The photo, where he’s very clearly in civilian clothing, is all it takes for his critics to cry “Stolen valor!”
Breitbart has the story;
A leading West Virginia gubernatorial candidate, Moore Capito (R), son of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), features a photo of himself on his campaign website that some critics say appears aimed at misleading voters into thinking he is a veteran.
The photo, which appears in the “Get to Know Moore” section of his campaign website, features Moore wearing a camouflage flak jacket and carrying a helmet on an airstrip with a military plane in the background.
His bio does not claim he served in the military, and only says:
After graduating college, Moore worked in Washington, D.C. to begin his career in public service. He worked for the Republican Majority in the United States Congress, traveled in support of the President as a member of The White House advance team, and served on the staff of the Secretary of Defense.
According to his LinkedIn page, Capito graduated from Duke University in 2005 and worked for the Office of the Secretary of Defense from November 2007 through September 2008, which would be during the Bush administration, under Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Sean Parnell, a former Republican U.S. Senate candidate for Pennsylvania and an Army combat veteran, argued that Capito’s usage of the photo was intentionally misleading.
“He can try to deny it all he wants, but Moore Capito knew exactly what he was trying to do with this picture. Attempting to fool voters into thinking that you served in the military when you actually haven’t, is a slap in the face to every single veteran who has served,” said Parnell, a Purple Heart recipient.
Judge for yourself, but on the scale of stolen valor this seems like a real stretch.
Category: 2024 Election, Politics
Judging by the guy in the background the words “All you civilians, put on a vest from this pile” were recently spoken.
^^^THIS^^^
That was my FIRST (ht2 oh…wait) thought too, David. I don’t see much of “stolen valor” here as I see a whole lot of Deep State Spawn of the Deep State. “Public Service Career” my ass. They mispelled slurp at the trough. Not knowing anything about this self centered sissy looking Mama’s Boi, I dipped into the comments in the linky. They were not kind and if the comments are true, what we have here is just more of the same swamp dwelling rino POSes that our grubermint is eat up with.
It’s technically called “sucking on the public teat”. But you are spot on.
I’ll bet there’s more to the story.
Here’s an idea. How about a constitutional amendment requiring 5 generations between family members holding federal office? Just a thought.
I would like to include state office but, that’s iffy.
That photo would lead the average Joe Schmuck to believe he has some close, operational ties to the military. Period. Curious it is that he chose that particular photo…
I’m not sure what you mean by “operational” ties, but he worked for the Secretary of Defense. I think that qualifies as having ties with the military, operational or not.
He’s walking on the flight line in obviously civilian clothes wearing a flak jacket and carrying (not even wearing) a helmet.
I don’t know many civilians that would jump to the conclusion that he’s trying to depict himself as some sort of combat adjacent “operator” with a picture obviously depicting a civilian on a tour of a military facility, possibly in a combat theater.
What I got from the picture, and what I think he was probably trying to convey, is that he is familiar with and a supporter of the military.
You can tell which generation a reader / commentator’s from, from the words / terms they use. “Flak Jacket” used by Vietnam Era Vets, whereas GWOT vets would call what the guy’s wearing as an “IBA”. That was eventually replaced by the IOTV. Then plate carriers.
So why did he pick that phoyo?
So…why use THAT photo?
Why not? SHows that even as a civilian he was willing to go down range. Many DoD civilians would scream and stamp their feet like 3 year olds if you asked them to go outside the beltway.
Well, so far it’s not doing him any good, so, unintended consequences I guess.
The caption and lead sentence here say “Virginia” and not “West Virginia”, where this hiccup is occurring.
We in Virginia re mostly happy with our Republican governor.
I’ll withhold judgement until Sen. Blumenthal’s office releases a statement concerning the “charges” leveled against the candidate.
So guy is off in a foreign country, doing the job he is paid to do, wearing equipment he was issued and making no claims of military service.
Trying to see the offense here. Not seeing it.
He didn’t even claim to be shot down, forced down or running in under sniper fire or any other claims to greatness. When I see the photo I see a civilian dude that were routinely sent out to the box to challenge my day. Definitely not a soldier of any kind. Nothing about him says soldier to anyone who served.
And wasn’t Parnell the one who had to drop out after being accused child abuse? Then we ended up with the cabbage as a senator?
What’s wrong here? Civilians go into hostile areas where military aircraft are often. No claims. No sniper fire comments. Just a picture of a dude doing his job.
It’s a pose. Not a claim.
Looks more like another early character assassination attempt by the sneering liberal Nazis in the mainstream media.
If Moore Capito was wearing an Army PT belt, I might have been fooled into thinking he’s a Veteran.
If he’s not claiming to be a vet, don’t see the problem.
I do see a problem with taking the picture on the flight line with the aircraft in the background. Their OPSEC sucks! I guess since it was the SECDEF, the airmen on the flight line that usually blow everyone out about snapping pictures, decided to remain silent.
<Snif snif> Smells like a smear campaign. Not even remotely like a claim that biden’s son died in the military on deployment…
Considering his messy personal life, Parnell may want to take ALL the seats. He can’t manage to win an election in his home state of Pennsylvania and seems to be looking for attention.
Yeah, I aint seeing it either. He even sports a ball cap that is obviously civilian and the short sleeve tee-shirt should be the final article of clothing that seals the deal. I think he is just trying to convey his support for the military. Simple as that.
He’s an aspiring politician – the son of an incumbent politician – which makes him an insufferable cocksucker – regardless of political affiliation.
True, but Parnell doesn’t really have room to talk either and he’s really reaching here. I’m sure there are other things that can be used to ding Moore Capito but this is just lazy. And, Parnell is a shitbag pol who can’t win an election, so it comes across as petty.