J.R. Majewski, the Republican candidate running for Congress in Ohio’s 9th congressional district said at a press conference on Friday that his military records are classified, after the Associated Press reported that he misrepresented his military service.
According to the AP, Majewski presents himself as an Air Force combat veteran who deployed to Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But military records, obtained through a public records request, indicate he never deployed to Afghanistan, instead he loaded planes at an air base in Qatar for six months.
At a press conference on Friday, Majewski slammed the AP for what he calls a “deceitful smear” by the “liberal media” and maintains that he flew into Afghanistan transporting supplies and fighters to the front lines. Those flights, he says would not appear on his public record because they are listed as classified.
The AP noted in their report that Majewski has been “less forthcoming when asked about the specifics of his service”. He displayed that in real time during the press conference on Friday when he was asked to give some examples of the military bases he was on in Afghanistan during his deployment.
“There were only a couple of bases in Afghanistan,” he said. “It is almost impossible to tell you where I was on what day. That’s why my orders are listed as a classified location.”
Majewski, a pro-Trump hip-hop artist who promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory, won the GOP primary after he was endorsed by Donald Trump. He will face Democrat Rep. Marcy Kaptur in November.
If elected, he plans to introduce legislation to streamline the process for veterans to obtain their records and make it illegal to “besmirch veterans”. He also said he is considering taking legal actions against the AP.
