GOP super PAC falsely claims congressional candidate saw combat as Marine

Tyler Kistner’s military service was also an issue in his previous campaigns for Congress

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A Republican political action committee had to pull a television advertisement promoting Minnesota congressional candidate Tyler Kistner because the ad falsely claimed he was a combat veteran.

According to the non-profit news site Minnesota Reformer, the Congressional Leadership Fund advertisement described Mr Kistner as having served “four combat deployments.” It aired on local television stations and streaming services for just one day before it was pulled down.

The veterans group VoteVets — which has endorsed Mr Kistner’s opponent, Representative Angie Craig — asked for the ad to be taken down in a late September letter, but a spokesperson for the CLF says the group made the request on its own after noticing that the “wrong version” was sent to television stations, just under three weeks before the veterans group asked for the ad to be pulled.

The Reformer noted that Mr Kistner’s overseas tours as a member of the US Marine Corps were served only in non-combat areas, including Japan and Korea.

Mr Kistner is attempting to unseat Ms Craig two years after losing to her by two per cent in the 2020 general election. His military service was an issue during that race as well, with Mr Kistner resisting the release of his discharge paperwork before it was disclosed to a local newspaper.

During his prior race against Ms Craig, Mr Kistner repeatedly claimed to have personally seen combat, making such statements as “I’ve been in fights, I’ve been in combat. I know exactly what it’s gonna take” during a primary candidate forum.