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Joe Biden often claims that his son Beau died in the line of duty and insinuates that he came home  from Iraq in a flag-draped coffin. It’s a troubling lie he has repeated many times. In a sense, it’s akin to stolen valor, because while Beau did serve honorably in the U.S. military, he passed away in the United States from a brain tumor. Sadly, embellishing military careers to sound more dramatic and heroic than they were is not all that uncommon. Is this the case with Ron DeSantis, who has faced criticism for giving the impression that he was a Navy SEAL? Maybe it’s not on the same level as Joe Biden, but it does make one wonder why he refuses to be more clear on the topic. The “Navy SEAL” drama was reignited after the GOP debate in Milwaukee.

During the debate, Governor Ron DeSantis said, “I was assigned to the Navy SEALs in Iraq,” leading many to believe he was implying he was a SEAL himself. Critics argue that this statement gave the wrong impression. Perhaps he should have simply stated, “I served in the U.S. Navy as a JAG officer in Iraq” — service that is certainly honorable and praiseworthy enough in and of itself. To clarify, DeSantis was never a Navy SEAL; he was a lawyer who worked with the Navy SEALs and other groups. He also worked as a “urinalysis coordinator.”

Miami Herald:

DeSantis was responsible for helping ensure that the missions of Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets in that wide swath of the Western Euphrates River Valley were planned according to the rule of law and that captured detainees were humanely treated, said his commander at the time. “He did a phenomenal job,” Thorleifson, 55, said of DeSantis in a Herald/Times interview. “It was a pretty complex time, with Iraqi sovereignty starting to take hold.” During this period, task force troops rounded up about 100 detainees, said Thorleifson. They were mostly military-aged males, some of whom were found with suicide vests while others were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was up to DeSantis, the lone lawyer with the Judge Advocate General Corps (JAG), to not only assure that the men were treated humanely and interrogated in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and U.S. military regulations, but to make sure that, when warranted, they were handed off to the proper legal authorities in Iraq for prosecution in that country’s nascent judicial system, Thorleifson said.

Below is the document showing DeSantis was also a urinalysis coordinator.

This isn’t sitting well with actual former Navy Seals, who lashed out at the Florida governor:

The Daily Beast:

On Wednesday night, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had an important message for those watching him participate in the first Republican debate of the presidential primary season.

“I learned in the military—I was assigned with the U.S. Navy SEALs in Iraq—that you focus on the mission above all else, you can’t get distracted,” DeSantis said. “So Republicans, we’ve got to look forward and we’ve got to make sure that we’re bringing the message that can win in November 2024.”

DeSantis moved on without further explanation, leaving some observers extremely impressed. Others, however, were far less moved.

“He was never a Navy SEAL,” Billy Allmon, a former member of SEAL Team 1, told The Daily Beast. “It’s a misleading statement.”

DeSantis again said during the debate that he “deployed to Iraq alongside U.S. Navy SEALs,” mirroring the backstory shared by a campaign surrogate earlier this month on a podcast hosted by former Trump counsel-turned-co-defendant Jenna Ellis. During the show, DeSantis campaign surrogate Carly Atchison described her boss’ path through life in deeply inspirational terms.

Even Trump hater Adam Kinzinger felt Ron’s GOP debate comment needed clarification.

DeSantis continues to struggle with connecting to voters, and he’s still losing ground in most polls. He’s losing his own state by incredible numbers.

Outsiders at Sky News who are observing the U.S. political situation believe that DeSantis fell short of accomplishing what he needed to during the debate.

You can’t help but wonder if that questionable “Navy SEAL” comment was made to possibly enhance his reputation and resonate with debate viewers. However, as with many aspects of the struggling DeSantis campaign, this too has backfired and caused more harm than good.

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