Veteran Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy announces Senate run against vulnerable Montana Democrat: 'I've laid everything on the line for this country'



Tim Sheehy has fought fires at homes, America's adversaries abroad, and for the heart of his Marine veteran wife. Now, it appears he's ready to fight for a consequential Senate seat in Big Sky Country that Republicans reckon is key to a 2024 majority.

"I’ve proudly fought for our country to defend our freedoms, and I’m once again answering the call to serve," Sheehy said in a statement. "I will fight to bring real leadership to Washington to save our country and protect our Montana way of life."

In March, Axios detailed efforts by Senate Republicans to bring Sheehy aboard in a Cincinnatian manner to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in 2024, noting that the former Navy SEAL and Army Ranger was "straight out of central casting."

Sheehy served in Iraq, Afghanistan, South America, and the Pacific region and received both the Bronze Star with Valor for Heroism in Combat and the Purple Heart medal, reported Fox News Digital.

After serving 200 missions and being wounded, Sheehy retired from the Navy in 2014 and moved his family to Montana, where he founded Bridger Aerospace, an aerial firefighting company, along with its affiliate, Ascent Vision Technologies, which develops imaging systems for the defense and aerospace industry. AVT was acquired by CACI International in 2020 for $350 million.

The father of four also got into ranching in a big way during the pandemic, starting the Little Belt Cattle Company with fellow former Navy SEAL Greg Putnam. According to the Huffington Post, the company presently ranches around 30,000 private and leased acres and owns 2,000 cattle.

Sheehy is flush with cash, meaning he would be able to self-finance a campaign, reported Axios. That will come in handy, as he won't just have to take on Tester, whom he associates with "the Democratic Party’s agenda of inflation, open borders, criminals over cops, drugs and violence in our communities, and a woke culture impacting our classrooms and military bases." He will also have to take on fellow Republicans in the forthcoming primary.

A June 21 Public Policy Polling survey found that 64% of Montana Republicans wanted Rep. Matt Rosendale to be their Senate hopeful. Only 10% responded that they wanted Sheehy. However, PPP noted that this poll was conducted at a time when Sheehy had "basically no profile at all."

Rosendale, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, previously ran for the Senate in 2018 but lost to Tester by 3.5 points in the general election.

An ally for Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), the former Trump interior secretary who pinned Sheehy's Purple Heart to his chest in 2015, said, "If Tim were to get in the race, he would be formidable. He’d be a terrific opponent against Tester."

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Steve Daines appear to have both given Sheehy their blessings.

"Tim Sheehy is a good friend, a successful businessman and a decorated veteran who served his country with honor and valor. Montana and our nation would be better for his continued public service, and I’m confident without a doubt he would serve Montana well as a senator," Gianforte told Axios.

Daines said, "Tim is a good friend and a great American."

"Whether it was in war or business, I see problems and solve them," Sheehy said in a statement. "I’m running for the U.S. Senate because our campaign is about service, duty, and country—not politics as usual."

The Republican candidate told Fox News Digital, "From inflation to our border to our deficit, America is ready for change. And I think it's time for a new generation of leaders to step up. ... Leaders who understand servant leadership, which is putting the mission before yourself, and leaders who understand how to get results."

"I think Americans are feeling underrepresented. They're tired of a government that they don't feel is working for them," continued Sheehy, adding that he would bring Montanans "commonsense government that runs like a business."

"Democrats made their blueprint for America incredibly clear during COVID, and that is more government, not less," Sheehy told Fox News Digital. "Jon Tester has been in lockstep with that vision his whole life. And now I think it's going to be hard for him to run away from that path because it's very clear."

But for Tester, Sheehy suggested that "the Democrat Party has left Montana. I think Montanans have always been socially conservative, hardworking people that have a mindset of accountability and get'er done."

The following are among the priorities listed in Sheehy's platform:

  • Secure the border, finish the wall, and end illegal immigration;
  • Repeal new "EPA job-killing energy regulations and mandates that the Democrats put on our economy that are driving up costs and preventing us from being energy independent";
  • Excise politics from the classroom and bolster parental rights, particularly in education;
  • Responsibly manage and utilize Montana's federal lands, generating jobs and resources;
  • Protect Second Amendment rights; and
  • Stand up for the unborn.

"Montanans can know that I've laid everything on the line for this country. I've been wounded in combat. I've led hundreds of missions and put it all on the line for all Americans, Republicans and Democrats," said Sheehy.

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Newsweek edited an article from over 5 years ago just so it could bolster a smear against GOP Sen. Tom Cotton



In a strange move that perhaps serves as an example of just how far left-leaning media outlets will go to smear conservatives, editors at Newsweek decided to retroactively edit an article the outlet published more than five years ago to bolster an attack against Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton's military record.

What's the background?

Last week, liberal magazine Salon published a bizarre hit piece against Cotton, alleging that he misrepresented his military record during congressional campaigns by falsely claiming to be an Army Ranger.

Cotton, a decorated combat veteran who earned a Bronze Star for his service in the Army in both Afghanistan and Iraq, had completed Army Ranger school and been awarded the Ranger tab, which qualifies him to serve in the elite unit.

But in the article, Salon was quick to point out that though "soldiers who complete the course earn the right to wear the Ranger tab ... in the eyes of the military, that does not make them an actual Army Ranger."

Salon even went so far as to belittle Ranger school, characterizing the grueling two-month course as something "that literally anyone in the military is eligible to attend."

In an article responding to the Salon smear, conservative outlet National Review noted that "there are many veterans, Democrats in Congress, and media outlets that do, in fact, call Ranger school graduates Army Rangers — even if they don't serve in the 75th Ranger Regiment."

Then what happened?

One of the many media outlets cited in the National Review article was Newsweek, which ran a story in 2015 about how for "the first time in the Army Ranger School's 64-year history, two women have completed the intense training program and will become Rangers."

Newsweek even decided hop on the smear campaign and run its own story about Cotton's supposed lies, after which the media outlet was summarily called out by Cotton's office. Only rather than retract the story, Newsweek doubled down by editing its old article. Here's what happened, courtesy of National Review:

Cotton's communications director Caroline Tabler tells National Review that Cotton's office contacted Newsweek this weekend to point out that Newsweek had identified the female Ranger school graduates as Army Rangers in 2015. Newsweek responded by editing its 2015 story to conform to Salon's new smear of Cotton. The 2015 Newsweek story no longer says the two women "will become rangers" — the edited version says they "will be allowed to wear the coveted Ranger tab on their uniforms." (The original Newsweek story can be viewed here.)

The new article includes an editor's note reading: "Correction: This article has been changed to note that completion of the course allows one to wear the Ranger tab, but does not make one a Ranger."

Anything else?

National Review writer John McCormack responded to the move by putting Newsweek on blast, calling the outlet out for "stolen valor."

Receipts: https://t.co/A2qb2BySKQ
— John McCormack (@John McCormack)1611619841.0

Hot Air, reporting on the news, rightly noted that "in the end, this is less a story about Senator Cotton's service designation than it is about how the liberal media will stop at virtually nothing in their efforts to cancel conservatives."