Hung Cao, a decorated Navy combat veteran and Republican nominee for the Senate in Virginia , called recent reporting that raised questions about his military service injuries "disgusting."
"They are saying that any disabled veteran in America that does not have a Purple Heart is faking it. This is the most disgusting thing I've ever heard from USA Today," Cao said on a Washington, D.C., radio show on Monday.
Elizabeth Beyer and Tom Vanden Brook cowrote in the piece that Cao has "made repeated references to becoming disabled after he was 'blown up' in combat."
The USA Today report said the Virginia Republican's Navy service record "does not show a Purple Heart award, the commendation given to troops who have suffered wounds from 'direct or indirect result of enemy action' that required medical attention. Nor does his record indicate that he received the Navy’s Combat Action Ribbon, which requires that a sailor 'must have rendered satisfactory performance under enemy fire while actively participating in ground or surface combat engagement.'"
Cao, 52, criticized one of the reporters of the article, calling Beyer "a young activist who calls herself a reporter."
He claimed to WMAL that there have been numerous media "hit jobs" because he is allegedly viewed as a "threat to Tim Kaine ."
"They make a mockery of getting blown up or getting traumatic brain injury," Cao said.
The military veteran said he "has been exposed to a lot of explosions."
"I know people look at me and say, 'He's not disabled. He's 170 pounds of twisted steel and sex appeal,'" Cao quipped.
He added with a serious tone, "They are saying that if you don't have a Purple Heart then you're faking it, that's what they are saying. … This is an affront to every disabled veteran in America — we're talking millions of people."
Cao was a speaker at the Chesapeake, Virginia, rally with former President Donald Trump on Friday following the first 2024 presidential debate.
"'We're going to win,'" the Navy veteran said to the crowd, repeating his conversation with the former president who had told him, "'We're going to crush it in Virginia.'"
Cao's opponent in the Senate race is Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who has called Cao "a MAGA extremist who looks out for himself first."
The war of words between Kaine and Cao began heating up following Virginia's primary in June.
Kaine has been a longtime household name in Virginia, serving as governor from 2006 to 2010, as a Democratic National Committee chairman, and as a U.S. senator for the commonwealth since 2013.
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The Trump-endorsed Vietnam refugee is a newcomer politician who previously ran in Virginia's 10th Congressional District in 2022. He is a Naval Academy graduate and former special operations officer.
The Washington Examiner reached out to USA Today about Cao's comments.
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