Very inspiring political ad... Wish I can vote for him.

The leftists are already all over him, pretty much accusing him of lying during his service. "If he got blown up so many times, where is his Purple Heart?"

Virginia Senate candidate Hung Cao boasted about being 'blown up' and 'shot at' while in the navy - but his service record doesn't include a Purple Heart

A naval captain turned senate candidate claims he carries the scars of being 'blown up' in combat - but his service record calls this into question.

Hung Cao, 52, is running to unseat Tim Kaine, a Democrat, in the Virginia senate race after cruising to victory in the Republican primary.

Much of his campaign is built on his status as a war hero and claims he faced so much enemy fire in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia he is disabled.

'I'm 100 per cent disabled because just from being blown up in combat many times and everything else, you know, knee, shoulders,' he said on April 22, 2022, during a failed congressional run.

'I've got more surgeries than you could possibly imagine.'

Cao frequently claimed he had horrific scars from his naval career, as a direct result of being in combat, and that made him a better man than career politician Kaine.

'Are you telling me your air-conditioned office where the worst thing that can happen for you is having a paper cut is the same as me getting, you know, blown up and shot at in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia?' he told a podcast last week.

However, Cao's military records do not show him being awarded a Purple Heart for being wounded or injured in action, according to USA Today.

Neither do they show a navy Combat Action Ribbon, awarded for 'rendering satisfactory performance under enemy fire while actively participating in ground or surface combat engagement'.

He has never claimed to have earned either medal.

Cao has a Bronze Star, which is awarded for heroic or meritorious action, but the US Navy said there was no citation attached to it to explain what he did to earn it.

He retired at the rank of captain in 2021 after his 25-year career as a 'special operations explosive ordnance disposal/dive officer'.

Four retired US Army and Navy doctors reviewed Cao's record and told USA Today for a badly wounded sailor, as Cao claimed to be, to not receive a Purple Heart or Combat Action Ribbon.

Cao did not respond well to questions about his military record and falsely claimed 'the left-wing media' was in cahoots with Kaine to make him look bad.

'I want to give you all a window into what it's like being a combat veteran who had the gall to run for public office against a career politician,' he wrote in a long rant on Facebook.

'Any veteran will read this with the same disgust. Imagine being asked to provide documentation of the dates and times Al Qaeda shot at you.

'Imagine being asked, if you're a disabled veteran, why you don't have a Purple Heart?'

Cao then claimed anyone who questioned him 'hate our military and veterans. There's no other explanation for their behavior'.

His campaign said only that Cao was a retired navy captain with 25 years of 'honorable service to his country'.

'His service is a matter of public record under his DD 214, as with any retired member of our armed forces,' it said of his service record.

The US Naval Undersea Museum gave a rundown of Cao's experience in 2021 when he was J3X Branch chief at the Pentagon, shortly before his retirement.

'Captain Cao has excelled in his Navy career, qualifying as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal officer and a diving officer,' it read.

'As an EOD officer, he deployed multiple times to Iraq to evaluate IEDs to recommend countermeasures.

'From 2013 to 2016, he commanded the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center.'

Cao fled Vietnam with his family as a four-year-old 14 hours before the fall of Saigon at the end of the war.

They escaped for West Africa where they lived for seven years while his father worked for an American international development agency, securing their passage to the US.

Cao then joined the Naval Academy after graduating from the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

He also earned a masters degree in physics and attended fellowships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.

He lives in Purcellville, in northern Virginia, with his wife, April, and their five children.

Cao is endorsed for the senate by Donald Trump and spouts much of the same rhetoric as the former president.

'We are losing our country. You know it. But you also know you can't say it. We're forced to say that wrong is right,' he said last July.

Kaine, who was Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential running mate in 2016, has been in public office for nearly three decades.

He served as mayor of Richmond and later as the Virginia's lieutenant governor and governor. He was first elected to the Senate in 2012 and handily defeated a far-right challenger in 2018.

The Virginia senate race is one of a handful of key contests that will decide who has a majority in the upper house for the next two years.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Cao then joined the Naval Academy after graduating from the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

He also earned a masters degree in physics and attended fellowships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.

Wow! For those that don't know, TJ High School is consistently ranked one of the best high schools in the United States. And getting into a service academy, particularly Annapolis, when living in DC Metro area, is particularly challenging due to all the military people who end of retiring in the area. This guy is definitely a rock star. No wonder Kaine is scared shitless of him.

Kaine signs are already showing up in my area.

Ugh.

passing these out as 5"x7" cards



There is only one question that counts : Would Hung Cao be a better Senator than DEM Tim Kaine ?

Anderson is running in VA CD7 versus Eugene Vindman of the infamous "Vindman Brothers"

quote:

Cao then claimed anyone who questioned him 'hate our military and veterans. There's no other explanation for their behavior'.

I hope he wins.

That said, if someone claims to be a better man than another, partly on the basis of having been shot at and blown up, would it not seem a little thin-skilled to bristle at being asked to elaborate?

I don't think he has to explain lack of medals to a pack of howling hyenas on demand, but I do think he should be willing to back up his public statements, if asked politely. I'd think this would give him an opportunity to further elaborate on the service experience that makes him a far better candidate than a swamp-dweller.

I voted for him a few weeks ago and I look forward to voting for him in November.

Hung was not my man in the primary, but I wish him all the luck in the world at unseating Kaine, and I will be voting for him in November.

Hung got pushed to the top of the primary candidates by an endorsement from PDJT, before that he was middle of the pack despite probably having the widest name recognition. I've met him several times at rallies for other candidates, and the gun show I work, he always has come across to me as someone who pays lip service to conservative principles, but is more of a "hands across the aisle" kind of politician. The "true conservatives" we have in the Commonwealth, e.g. Amanda Chase and Chuck Smith, never seem to do too well in the primaries due to lack of support from the RVA who seem to favor middle-of-the-road politicians like Youngkin and Hung.

The "rank and file" Republicans here are clearly to the right of the State party officials. About time they put aside their compromising ways, and regain the "party of principle" reputation that conservatives in VA have held for so long.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
The "true conservatives" we have in the Commonwealth, e.g. Amanda Chase and Chuck Smith, never seem to do too well in the primaries due to lack of support from the RVA who seem to favor middle-of-the-road politicians like Youngkin and Hung.

The "rank and file" Republicans here are clearly to the right of the State party officials. About time they put aside their compromising ways, and regain the "party of principle" reputation that conservatives in VA have held for so long.

What good does it do to put forth statewide candidates who can't win in Northern Virginia?

Play the long game. Run true conservatives down south in areas they can win and have them build up seniority so they advance into leadership positions, both in Richmond and Washington.

Run the middle of the road Republicans for the statewide offices (Governor, U.S. Senator). This ensures that anything that gets passed by Richmond will get signed, or vetoed, and it helps build a majority in the U.S. Senate.

Taking control of the U.S. Senate is critical because the next President will probably need to appoint at least two Supreme Court Justices.

I don't think Amanda Chase could ever win state wide VA.

Now that John McGuire has won REP primary for VA CD 5 (U.S. House), Chase will try to win the VA senate seat that McGuire will vacate

Youngkin wrote the text book on how a REP can win VA. It is a very tricky business.

Cao spent two to four times as much $ as any other REP in the Senate primary. Cao had left over $ (2 million) from a campaign he ran in 2022

The only way Cao will win in 2024 is if he rides the Trump Train to victory.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sdy,

Is it possible that military records do not share classified operations, and that the candidate's records are therefore unviewable?

I don't know how much of a chance he has of unseating that anti-gun POS Kaine but he will get my vote.

According to that Dem-ops “Open Labs” polling map, Virginia could come into play and go red. It’s my understanding that the Dems are truly scared for the down-ballot races going Republican if Biden is still on the ticket; not that Kackles the Hyena would improve matters any, if not make it worse.

quote:

Cao then joined the Naval Academy after graduating from the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

He also earned a masters degree in physics and attended fellowships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.

He lives in Purcellville, in northern Virginia, with his wife, April, and their five children.

Didn't realize he was a local guy. I like him even more now. TJ, Naval Academy, and MIT, the guy is extremely smart. The competition to get into TJ is extremely fierce.

He lives near me but didn't know he was a TJ kid back in the day. My daughter is a rising senior at TJ...it's a little different these days than when Hung Cao would have attended.

I'm surprised he's running against Kaine because he lost in a state-wide election two years ago. I'll still be voting for him.

^^ well done dad!!!

I am sure it's not the same with DEI and affirmative action. Back in the day an Asian mom would be willing to sabotage another student to get their kid in there. You had to be the best of the best of the best.

Thanks. But mostly we’ve been lucky…she’s a great kid.

TJ is still 100x better than the Loudoun HS she would have attended with the massive mess the previous supervisor and school board made.