{"id":2352279,"date":"2024-10-08T17:03:10","date_gmt":"2024-10-08T21:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/derrick-anderson-accuses-democratic-challenger-of-inflating-military-record-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-10-08T17:04:30","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T21:04:30","slug":"derrick-anderson-accuses-democratic-challenger-of-inflating-military-record-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/derrick-anderson-accuses-democratic-challenger-of-inflating-military-record-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Derrick Anderson accuses Democratic challenger of inflating military record &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fderrick-anderson-accuses-democratic-challenger-of-inflating-military-record-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2352279&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In a recent\u2064 advertisement, Virginia\u2064 Republican Derrick Anderson accused his \u2062Democratic opponent, retired \u2062Army Lt. \u200dCol. Yevgeny \u201cEugene\u201d Vindman, of\u2064 misrepresenting \u200bhis military\u200b record. Anderson&#8217;s ad, titled \u201cValor,\u201d critiques Vindman for allegedly inflating \u200bhis status as a retired colonel \u200band his combat experiences in order \u2062to further his political ambitions. Anderson emphasizes the importance of honesty in military \u2064service and positions himself as a straightforward candidate committed to serving the country.<\/p>\n<p>The context for this\u200c accusation arises from the race for an \u2063<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ny-times-democrats-flip-to-republican-in-political-upheaval-of-border-towns\/\" title=\"NY Times: Democrats Flip to Republican in &#039;Political Upheaval&#039; of Border Towns\">open congressional seat previously held<\/a> \u200bby\u200c Democrat\u200c Abigail Spanberger. The competition is deemed competitive, with the Cook Political Report labeling it as \u201clean\u200d Democrat.\u201d Since\u200b April, Anderson&#8217;s \u200ccampaign has targeted Vindman over \u2064assertions of \u201cstolen valor,\u201d noting\u200b that although Vindman was promoted \u2063to colonel, he did not complete the\u200b requisite service time to retire at that rank, leaving the Army as a \u2064lieutenant colonel after being dismissed from the National \u2063Security Council \u200cby former President\u2062 Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Vindman\u2019s campaign countered Anderson\u2019s claims, defending his military service record and calling Anderson&#8217;s accusations a diversion from more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/reporters-notebook-elise-stefanik-as-potential-trump-running-mate\/\" title=\"Elise Stefanik: A Possible Trump VP\">pressing \u200bpolitical issues<\/a>. They described Anderson&#8217;s assertions about his family life as similarly misleading, including a controversy surrounding a family photo. In a recent debate, the \u2063two\u2064 candidates\u2063 exchanged criticisms, with\u2063 Anderson pressuring Vindman to disclose\u2064 his military \u2062documentation and arguing that Vindman\u200b focuses too \u2064much on his past grievances.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Derrick Anderson accuses Democratic challenger of inflating military record in latest ad<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1780083\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>EXCLUSIVE &mdash;<\/strong> Virginia <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/republicans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Republican<\/a> Derrick Anderson is blasting his <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democrats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Democratic<\/a> challenger, retired <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/army\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Army<\/a> Lt. Col.&nbsp;Yevgeny &ldquo;Eugene&rdquo; Vindman, for inflating his <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/military\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>military<\/a> record in a new television advertisement releasing Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>In the ad titled &ldquo;Valor&rdquo; and shared first with the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> ahead of its release, Anderson reflects on his career as a Green Beret, accusing Vindman of lying about being a retired colonel and his time in combat &ldquo;to advance his political career.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That cuts against every value our military teaches,&rdquo; Anderson says in the ad. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s indefensible. We need leaders in Washington who shoot straight and always put our country first. That&rsquo;s the kind of Congressman I&rsquo;ll be.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"4Sz29N1uyxE\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Valor - Derrick Anderson - VA-07\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4Sz29N1uyxE?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Anderson and Vindman are running for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-the-attacks-on-j-d-vance-were-never-going-to-stick\/\" title=\"Why The Attacks On J.D. Vance Were Never Going To Stick\">open seat left vacant<\/a> by Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA). Spanberger announced last year she would forgo reelection to her House seat in Virginia&rsquo;s 7th Congressional District. The <em>Cook Political Report<\/em> rates the contest as &ldquo;lean Democrat.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Since June, the Anderson campaign and the National Republican Congressional Committee have targeted Vindman with accusations of &ldquo;stolen valor&rdquo; after some of Vindman&rsquo;s campaign social media posts referred to him as a &ldquo;retired Army colonel.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Vindman and his brother, Alexander Vindman, are known for being the key whistleblowers that led to former President Donald Trump&rsquo;s first impeachment over a phone call between the former president and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. <\/p>\n<p>The Democratic House candidate was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/military\/fired-trump-white-house-brother-impeachment-witness-vindman-now-says-n1261166\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>promoted to colonel<\/a> in 2021 but needed to serve three years to retire in that role, and he was fired from his post at the National Security Council by Trump before that time frame was complete, meaning he left the army with a &ldquo;lieutenant colonel&rdquo; ranking.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Derrick is lying about Eugene&rsquo;s service record just like he&rsquo;s lying about his fake family,&rdquo; the Vindman campaign said in a statement to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s disgusting. Eugene served in the Army for 25 years, was promoted to Colonel, and served in a combat zone in Iraq. This is a desperate attempt to distract from the real issues of Project 2025 and abortion rights in this race.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Vindman campaign&rsquo;s &ldquo;fake family&rdquo; allegation refers to a photo&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/27\/us\/politics\/republican-candidates-wives-ads.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">posted by the&nbsp;<em>New York Times<\/em><\/a>&nbsp;of Anderson standing to a woman and her three daughters. Anderson&rsquo;s campaign told the&nbsp;<em>Associated Press<\/em>&nbsp;last week that the Republican&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/derrick-anderson-eugene-vindman-congress-election-virginia-9eb610dfc95d6e18cad17a5d19518416\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">never claimed<\/a>&nbsp;the women in the photo were his family, and that Anderson has often posted photos with his actual family.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with CNN last week, Vindman said &ldquo;people that have served more than a day know that you&rsquo;re referred to as &lsquo;colonel,&rsquo; lieutenant colonel, colonel.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m proud of my service, I put my service up against anybody,&rdquo; Vindman said. &ldquo;&hellip;I&rsquo;m not misrepresenting myself.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The two candidates <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/dc-md-va\/2024\/10\/03\/derrick-anderson-eugene-vindman-debate-congress-virginia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>debated last week<\/a>, with Anderson accusing Vindman of focusing on the past and launching a &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/election-night-takeaways-in-alaska-florida-and-wyoming-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Election night takeaways in Alaska, Florida, and Wyoming - Washington Examiner\">revenge tour&#038;rdquo<\/a>; for Trump firing him. Vindman attempted to tie Anderson to Project 2025, a conservative policy platform that many Republicans, including Trump, have tried to distance themselves from as polling shows a majority of Americans are against the blueprint.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of the debate, Anderson called on Vindman to release his DD-214, a document detailing his military service. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You try to distinguish between us and the differences?&rdquo; Anderson said during the debate in response to Vindman&rsquo;s claim that he has the experience and knowledge over the Republican. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell you the differences: I&rsquo;m telling the truth about my service and what I&rsquo;ve done. My opponent is lying.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Stolen valor&rdquo; has become a flashpoint for Republicans in the 2024 cycle, particularly with Vice President Kamala Harris&rsquo;s running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN). Walz served in the Army National Guard for 24 years but never saw combat &mdash; a fact the GOP has narrowed in on, accusing the Harris campaign of misrepresenting Walz&rsquo;s service in ads.<\/p>\n<p>As of June 30, Vindman has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vpap.org\/offices\/us-representative-7\/elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>held the fundraising edge<\/a> with $2.28 million in the bank. Anderson&rsquo;s campaign noted $460,000, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. The GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund and Democrat-aligned House Majority PAC have dumped significant funds into the race, spending $1.8 million on Anderson and $2.57 million on Vindman, respectively.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1780083\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1780083\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Derrick Anderson claims his Democratic opponent, Yevgeny Vindman, exaggerates his military service in a new ad<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2648,"featured_media":2352283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/derrick-anderson-eugene-vindman-house-2024.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[36772,42587,33583,36160,32076],"class_list":["post-2352279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-democratic-challenger","tag-derrick-anderson","tag-military-record","tag-political-controversy","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/derrick-anderson-eugene-vindman-house-2024.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2352279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2648"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2352279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2352279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2352283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2352279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2352279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2352279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}