Tim Sheehy, a Republican and retired Navy SEAL who is very likely to run for the U.S. Senate in Montana next year, is ripping incumbent Democrat Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) for silence over reports that a military base in the state hosted a “Drag Queen Story Hour” recently.
“Jon Tester and his fellow Democrats continue to prioritize Joe Biden’s woke agenda at the expense of America’s national security interests,” Sheehy said in a statement provided exclusively to Breitbart News ahead of its public release. “At a time when China is building naval bases in the South Pacific and sending a surveillance balloon over Montana which is home to three nuclear missile silo fields, the U.S. Military is hosting drag queen shows for our military families. After our disgraceful retreat from Afghanistan two years ago our military is badly in need of reinvestment. Woke cultural initiatives like this have no place in our armed forces. Rejecting this kind of cultural rot on our military bases and prioritizing combat readiness should be a bipartisan issue, but it seems for our liberal Senator Jon Tester, this is a bridge too far.”
Montana congressmen jointly submitted an angry letter to the Pentagon regarding a “Drag Story Hour” for children held at Malmstrom Air Force Base. https://t.co/Vnh2tN1WeY
— Great Falls Tribune (@GFTribune) April 3, 2023
Malstrom Air Force Base in Montana reportedly held a “Drag Queen Story Hour” for children back in the summer of 2021. The incident, which came to light earlier this year, has sparked outrage among Republicans in Montana, with all of the state’s three national elected GOP officials — Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), and Reps. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) and Ryan Zinke (R-MT) each ripped Democrat President Joe Biden’s Pentagon for it. Tester, however, has been silent on the matter.
Sheehy ripping Tester for this in this exclusive for Breitbart News is the latest and loudest indication that the decorated military veteran and businessman is considering throwing his hat into the ring in 2024 to challenge Tester in a race Republicans view as essential to retaking the U.S. Senate majority.
Sheehy’s career in business after his service in the military gives Republicans hope he could help finance his own campaign if he decides to run, and a recent Axios story revealed that Daines—who is leading Senate candidate recruitment for the GOP this cycle—is personally encouraging Sheehy to run. Sheehy, currently the CEO of Bridger Aerospace in Montana, is close personal friends with Daines.
Republicans, who need to net two seats to win back the majority, have their eye on three red-state races that Democrats are defending: Montana, West Virginia and Ohio.https://t.co/yd9wCTc4dg
— Axios (@axios) March 10, 2023
Republicans hope to quickly unite the party in Montana behind Sheehy, part of a more aggressive strategy from the party this cycle, rather than facing a grueling primary because the GOP views states like this one, Ohio, and West Virginia as critical to GOP chances of retaking the majority. There is still a possibility that Rosendale, who lost to Tester the last time Tester faced reelection, might try to run, but Republicans are hopeful that does not happen—and that the party can quickly shift all energy into helping Sheehy defeat Tester in November 2024. Senate Republicans have had similar recruiting successes in Pennsylvania, where they convinced last year’s losing gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano not to run for Senate clearing the way for businessman David McCormick, and in West Virginia the GOP successfully recruited Gov. Jim Justice to run for the seat currently held by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV). Manchin has not stated whether he will run for reelection.
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