A Donald Trump-endorsed congressional candidate in Nevada exaggerated his military record multiple times in campaign ads over the last three years.
David Flippo, the Republican nominee for Nevadaâs second congressional district, had repeatedly falsely publicized that he had received a Bronze Star âfor valorâ during his 24-year Air Force career, according to The Washington Post.
Flippo, 64, received a Bronze Star for his service as a maintenance and logistics officer in 2004, but not âwith valorââan important and much rarer distinction that honors heroism in an active combat zone.
However, the GOP candidateâs campaign did not clarify that distinction in campaign ads, advertising on several occasions since 2023 that he had âearned the Bronze Star for valor.â
A video from when he first announced his campaign in 2023 for the stateâs fourth congressional district included a line describing him as a ârecipient of the Bronze Star that he received for valor,â the Post reported.
His campaign had made this same distortion in at least two fundraising requests during that election cycle, according to the newspaper. He lost in the 2024 Republican primary for the district that includes Las Vegas and its northern suburbs.
Two years later, a fundraising email to Flippoâs supporters once again claimed he âearned the Bronze Star for valorâ following an endorsement from Combat Vets for Congress, and a week later, listed among his military achievements âearning the Bronze Star for valor.â
Flippo shifted from campaigning in Nevadaâs fourth district to its highly Republican second district in March, after Rep. Mark Amodei announced his retirement.
The Republicanâs campaign deleted the three-year-old video from social media on Wednesday after being contacted by the Post.
Flippo called the error âan honest mistake,â chalking it up to his video editors conflating his Bronze Star with a different award he receivedâthe Outstanding Unit Award with Valor.
âThree years ago, our video editors made a mistake and tried to combine these two awards for a commercial,â he told the Post. âAfter realizing this error, our campaign has not used that ad again, and it has not been part of our campaign this election cycle.â
However, when pressed on more recent fundraising emails containing the same misrepresentation, the candidateâs team accused the Post of âtrying to fabricate a scandal.â
Flippoâs spokesperson, Rory McShane, told the Post that the campaign âhas sent literally hundreds of fundraising solicitations via text messages, email, letter, etc. A copywriter accidentally using old talking points does not a scandal make.â
Reached for comment, McShane told the Daily Beast in a statement: âLt. Col. Flippo was awarded the Bronze Star and the Outstanding Unit with Valor device. A copywriter made a mistake and attached the Valor device to the wrong medal in the campaign script. Lt. Col. Flippo has apologized for this mistake and for not proofreading the material himself.â
Multiple experts on military awards told the Post that Flippoâs âhonest mistakeâ was âa big deal.â
âItâs pretty sad that this is a multiple-time thing,â Doug Sterner, a two-time Bronze Star recipient, told the newspaper. âIt shows a pattern of deception. It is someone trying to give an impression of their service that is not true.â
âIt amounts to a lie,â he added. âItâs a falsification, a misrepresentation of the award that he received. He did not get an award for heroism.â
Retired Army infantry officer Jason Dempsey also referred to Flippoâs error as âpretty blatant.â
âIt denigrates everybodyâs service for folks to promote themselves this way,â Dempsey, a fellow at the national security-focused D.C. think tank, the Center for a New American Security, told the Post. âHe apparently missed the training on officership and integrity.â
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