MAGA Candidate Campaigning as Afghanistan Vet Has No Record of Serving There

J.R. Majewski, a far-right candidate for the U.S. House in Ohio whom former President Trump stumped for on Saturday, has misrepresented his military service, according to the Associated Press. The National Republican Congressional Committee pulled $1 million in ad reservations in Majewski’s district a day after the AP’s report, effectively giving up on his chances to flip the seat.

Majewski has campaigned as an Afghanistan veteran, but documents obtained by the AP through a public records request indicate he never actually served there. Instead, he was stationed in Japan for most of his active service and for six months, helped load planes at an air base in Qatar, a U.S. ally.

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Nevertheless, Majewski has described himself as a “combat veteran” and tweeted last year about going “back to Afghanistan.”

Majewski also said during an interview that he served a tour in Afghanistan in 2002 and 2003. When asked about what it was like, he said he doesn’t “like talking about my military experience.”

The AP also notes that Majewski does not have the medals awarded to those who served in Afghanistan. For instance, Majewski once claimed to have gone over 40 days without a shower in Afghanistan but does not have an Afghanistan campaign medal, which goes to those who served there for “30 consecutive days or 60 nonconsecutive days.”

Majewski did not deny that he lied about his deployment in a statement provided to the AP. “I am proud to have served my country,” he said. “My accomplishments and record are under attack, meanwhile, career politician Marcy Kaptur has a forty-year record of failure for my Toledo community, which is why I’m running for Congress.”

Majewski has been known for turning his lawn into a shrine to Trump, as well as rapping about how President Biden is “crapping his pants.” He’s professed devotion to QAnon, the conspiracy theory holding that Trump is going to save the world from a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles, and though he has tried to distance himself from the cult at times, he once said he “believe[s] in everything that’s been put out from Q.” Majewski has also said he “wanted nothing more than to go in that building,” referring to the Capitol, last Jan. 6.

Majewski won the Republican primary for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District in May and is now taking on Democrat Marcy Kaptur in the race to see who represents the district in Washington.

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