Arizona Veterans Stump for Mark Kelly, Thump ‘Dumb and Dangerous’ Blake Masters

Blake Masters is mixing up the MAGA playbook.

Veterans of all ages usually cast reliably red votes, but since 2020, more and more veterans are ditching the grand old party. Masters, Arizona’s Republican U.S. Senate candidate who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, could speed up that process with his incendiary comments about the military – something he brazenly defended at a televised debate earlier this month.

That’s why veterans across the political spectrum condemned Masters’ attack on service members and stumped for his opponent, Democrat U.S. Senator Mark Kelly, at rallies in Phoenix on Monday and Tuesday.

Masters has insisted there’s “rot” in the military – doubling down on his previous claims that the military and veterans are “totally incompetent,” “woefully inadequate,” “piss poor,” and “embarrassing.” Masters also reviled U.S. entry into World War II as “unjust,” said Al Qaeda is not a real threat to America, and defended conspiracy theories around the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

He’s also peddled election conspiracy theories; sounded off hoary sexist, racist, and anti-Semitic tropes; and called for a ban on gay marriage. (His billionaire Silicon Valley bankroller, Peter Thiel, is gay.)

‘Dumb and Dangerous’

U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego, a veteran and Democrat from Phoenix, criticized Masters with a scathing op-ed for Fox News and accused him for turning his back on the military. On Monday, Gallego also rallied with veterans during an event at Governmental Mall in downtown Phoenix.

“When you make some wild ass claims like he has, you are seeing something that is both dumb and dangerous,” Gallego told Phoenix New Times. “He should take some time to learn the basics before he runs his mouth.”

Veterans including David Lucier, a U.S. Army Green Beret from Tempe who served in the Vietnam War, rallied for Kelly at the event on Monday. Lucier turned 21 on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Kelly, at the same age, became a naval aviator and flew dozens of combat missions in Operation Desert Storm.

When Masters was 21, “he was holed up in a dorm room writing a blog, calling the U.S. entry into World War II ‘unjust’ and quoting Nazi war criminals,” Lucier said.

Lucier rhetorically asked Masters, “What do you think gives you the right to attack our military and insult veterans like us? What about my service was embarrassing? What about my parents’ sacrifice was inadequate? Tell me that, Mr. Masters.”

When Luis Cardenas Camacho, a Marine and Operation Iraqi Freedom combat veteran, first heard that Masters defended conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks, he didn’t believe it. Then, the Independent voter from Goodyear did some research for himself.

What he found astonished him, he said.

“How dare he. How dare he utter those words,” Cardenas Camacho said at the Monday event. “With his words, Blake Masters dishonored the memory and disgraced the sacrifice of the brave men and women and their families who, unlike him, answered the call to serve in the conflicts that followed the 9/11 attacks. His comments are shameful and nothing short of disqualifying.”

If elected, Masters wants to push for firing all active generals and admirals and replacing them with “MAGA Patriots,” a diametric departure from the civilian-led nonpartisan military that is a hallmark of American democracy. He called U.S. generals “woke, corrupt bozos.”

“You want to destroy a modern, professional military?” Gallego asked. When you politicize the armed forces, he said, “That’s what happens. We become Russia.”

Kate Smith, one of the first female U.S. Air Force Academy graduates, called the move unconstitutional. Since her deployment in the Cold War, the Tempe resident has carried a miniature copy of the U.S. Constitution with her as a reminder of the promise she made to herself at age 18: “Service before self.”

“When you defame the military, when you spread conspiracy theories that are false, it’s just wrong and it’s dangerous,” Smith said.

A spokesperson for Masters did not respond to requests for comment from New Times.

‘It’s Insulting’

Smith and Lucier also joined dozens of other Arizona veterans on Tuesday at the Luke-Greenway American Legion Post in Phoenix to voice their support of Kelly. They championed him as a moderate, no-nonsense Democrat with military credentials.

The venue was packed, and the audience cheered as veteran Tom McCanna, a former aide to Republican U.S. Senator John McCain, read aloud the list of pro-veteran legislation Kelly has helped pass in the Senate during his first 21 months in office.

“We veterans need to get it right,” McCanna said. “Senator Kelly is committed to supporting Arizona veterans.”

Among the legislation Kelly sponsored is the Brandon Act, which addresses how service members receive mental health treatment. The bill was named for Brandon Caserta, a soldier from Peoria who died by suicide in 2018 at age 21. His parents, local residents Patrick and Teri Caserta, made the 35-hour drive to Washington, D.C., last year in search of a primary sponsor for the bill, which passed in December after it was folded into a defense spending authorization bill.

They found one in Kelly.

“Brandon was killed by toxic abuse of leadership and abuse of power,” Patrick Caserta said on Tuesday. “We decided to do something about it. He asked us to ensure that this does not happen again and to put a stop to it. It was apparent to us that his legacy was to save lives.”

Kelly asked voters to grant him a full six-year term so he can continue to sponsor and pass similar legislation.

“I find Blake’s comments about the U.S. military pretty insulting,” Kelly told New Times. “We’ve got about half a million veterans here in the state of Arizona. It’s insulting to them and their families.”

Kelly is holding a six-point edge over Masters as of Wednesday morning, according to polling numbers from FiveThirtyEight.