A bombshell was dropped on Connecticut Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal Monday night, less than a week before the Democratic nominating convention, when the New York Times reported he has misled voters about his military record.
Blumenthal has suggested repeatedly in public settings that he served in Vietnam, despite getting five deferments between 1965 and 1970 and ultimately serving stateside in the Marine Corps Reserve, according to the Times.
The Blumenthal campaign lashed out at the Times for an “outrageous distortion” of his record but didn’t refute the thrust of the story.
"The New York Times story is an outrageous distortion of Dick Blumenthal's record of service. Unlike many of his peers, Dick Blumenthal voluntarily joined the Marine Corps Reserves in 1970 and served for six months in Parris Island, S.C., and six years in the reserves,” Blumenthal campaign manager Mindy Myers said in a statement. “He received no special treatment from anyone.”
Blumenthal planned to gather Connecticut veterans in support of his campaign Tuesday morning.
It was his remarks in front of a group of veterans and senior citizens in Norwalk, Conn., in 2008 that the Times cited most prominently.
“We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam,” he said, according to the paper. “And you exemplify it. Whatever we think about the war, whatever we call it — Afghanistan or Iraq — we owe our military men and women unconditional support.” - Politico Story
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