Hung Cao, the MAGA-backed Navy veteran who has become a formidable Virginia candidate to challenge Sen. Tim Kaine's (D-VA) after winning his June primary handily, is on his heels trying to explain statements he's made about his military service that don't appear to check out.
USA TODAY secured the 52-year-old's military records and found that after running them past fellow veterans, there appeared to be some unexplained questions.
They point to repeated statements Cao made that he was "blown up" and was wounded in combat.
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However, the USA TODAY reported that his service record fails to show him earning a Purple Heart award (“direct or indirect result of enemy action”) or the Navy’s Combat Action Ribbon (presented to sailors who exhibit "satisfactory performance under enemy fire while actively participating in ground or surface combat engagement.”)
The outlet presented numerous moments when Cao appeared to describe himself as being wounded in battle.
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In a speech he gave on April 22, 2022 during a failed House bid, Cao reportedly suggested he had survived disabling injuries in combat.
"I'm 100% disabled, you know, because just from being blown up in combat many times and everything else, you know, knee, shoulders," Cao said. “I've got more surgeries than you could possibly imagine.”
On June 21, Cao made a similar claim on the "The Talk of Delmarva" with Jake Smith podcast.
The GOP candidate said, according to USA TODAY, that he "was getting shot at and blown up in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia."
That same day on the podcast"The Schilling Show", Cao reminded listeners he was war tested.
"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 asked according to the report.
Cao's campaign didn't answer a list of specific questions posed by USA TODAY, but did offer a statement.
It reads: “Capt. Hung Cao is a retired Navy Captain with twenty-five 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."
Cao has responded by bashing the news paper for asking questions about his military service.
"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," reads his explanation in a Facebook post. "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?"
