Varela Lies About Veterans’ Endorsement; Hanks Calls It ‘Akin to Stolen Valor’
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: info@hanksforcolorado.com
Phone: 719 352 5264
Website: www.HanksForColorado.com
9June2024
Last week, Veterans for Trump rescinded their endorsement of Stephen Varela due to gross misrepresentations by his campaign. They directed Varela to remove the Veterans for Trump logo and any indications Varela had their endorsement. Stephen Varela and his campaign received and acknowledged those instructions, but rather than follow a direct order and comply, the ethically challenged Varela and his campaign ignored that demand and doubled down on the deceit.
Varela’s abject dishonesty is now hanging from voters’ front doors in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District. His team delivered campaign doorhangers that look like his original campaign material, but they are now adorned with a red emblem indicating an endorsement by Veterans for Trump. Again, Varela is not endorsed by Veterans for Trump. Varela knows this well. But he and his team hope to leverage the lie to influence voters in the June 25th primary.
As a 32-year military veteran, I am disgusted by “stolen valor”. I am also deeply insulted by liars insinuating support from veterans or veteran organizations when none has been offered or when it has been revoked. It is stealing the voice of our fighting men and women, and it is shameful.
As an 8-year veteran himself, Stephen Varela knows better. But he did it anyway. Our military trains all members to live by a code of ethics. The most common is, “I will not lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate those who do.” Stephen Varela has forgotten that code of conduct – or never learned it. His lack of integrity is irredeemable and unworthy of any candidate – especially in our Republican Party.
Sadly, it is just another lie in a long string of lies from Stephen Varela and his campaign. The volume of the disinformation is alarming. Rather than list it all here, a portion of it can be reviewed at The Varela Files, a website independent from the Hanks for Colorado campaign.
Stephen Varela is a fake-Republican who admitted to voting for Joe Biden in 2020 “and all the Democrats” but now purports to be a “battle-tested conservative”. His campaign should be considered a leftist insurgency and treated with the contempt such dishonesty deserves. Varela has discredited himself, cast embarrassment on a military veterans group working to save this nation through honest political efforts, and he has lied to voters who are genuinely afraid for our nation.
Stealing the voice of veterans is an unforgivable political sin. Keeping faith with that military code of ethics noted above, I will not tolerate it, nor should the voters. Stephen Varela should remove himself from this primary race in shame and spare them the insult and suffering of another fast-talking fabricator of false information.
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