HARRISBURG, Pa. — GOP Senate candidate Dave McCormick had a simple message for veterans in Pennsylvania’s capital city on Saturday.
“This is the moment where, the difference between our country going over the cliff and our country going in the right direction, is leadership,” McCormick told veterans attending the Pennsylvania American Legion’s 105th Convention at the Hilton Harrisburg hotel.
McCormick, a hedge fund executive-turned-Senate hopeful, is a 1987 West Point graduate who served as a paratrooper in the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. He saw action in Iraq during the first Gulf War, received a Bronze Star and retired with the rank of captain.
Leaning into his experience while trying to avoid strong political statements, McCormick told the crowd of combat veterans that no one in the Senate will have their backs like he will.
“As a veteran, I can assure you, no one will stand more strong, more clear for our military and for our veterans than I will.” he said.
According to McCormick, the military has “lost its focus on war-fighting” in recent years.
To reverse this trend and strengthen America’s armed forces, McCormick suggested reforming GI benefits to ensure educated veterans can be competitive in the modern economy, as well as improving mental health care at the VA.
About half of the 22 veterans who take their own lives each day never receive any mental health treatment, McCormick said.
McCormick also discussed his experience at last Saturday’s western Pennsylvania rally where former President Donald Trump was shot.
McCormick — who spoke almost two hours before Trump took the stage — said he was about 25 feet from the former president, while firefighter Corey Comperatore was fatally shot another 25 feet behind him.
Trump showed “strength” and reassured the crowd by getting to his feet and pumping his fist after being shot, McCormick said.
“Many of you know what it’s like to have bullets flying,” McCormick told veterans of his experience at the rally.
“Of 100 people in that situation, 99 of them stay down. Very few stand up, and [Trump] stood up.”
Speaking to The Post after his 18-minute speech, McCormick said he was “honored” to receive the endorsement of his state’s largest police union, the Pennsylvania Fraternal Order of Police — a group that has backed Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and other Democrats in the past.
“I think the primary reason is [for endorsing me] is they’re deeply worried that our society and our leadership — Sen. Casey particularly — have not been supportive of law enforcement,” McCormick said.
“His positions are out of step.”
Polls show the incumbent Casey remains ahead of McCormick, but the race between the two is expected to be the country’s most expensive Senate election this year.
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