Alex Vindman is a ‘Hell, no’ on U.S. military action in Iran

TAMPA — Alexander Vindman says Democrats are the party of national security and defense and that he is vehemently opposed to U.S. military involvement in Iran.

The Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate spoke in Tampa Friday night as diplomatic efforts to end the war in Iran again stalled again over the weekend, according to the Associated Press.

While a truce has taken hold over the last 20 days, continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues to keep gas prices high and could further damage the economy.

Vindman, a retired U.S. Army colonel, is running on an anti-war platform, at least in respect to the military confrontation with Iran. Vindman described in Tampa how he was wounded by an improvised explosive device outside of Fallujah in Iraq in 2004, taking shrapnel in his leg and shoulder, and how it has affected his stance on military encounters.

“I learned a lot that day,” he recalled. “I earned a Purple Heart, but what I learned was more about sacrifice and service. It’s more than dollars and cents that are expended when we send the troops overseas. That’s why when Ashley Moody votes yes for a poorly considered war, a dangerous war of choice, with no way out, I know what it costs, and I’m a hell no for these wars overseas.”

Moody announced her support for the military actions hours after the U.S. and Israel dropped the first bombs on Iran on Feb. 28. She told Fox Business on March 2 that “we can no longer turn a blind eye to the escalating threat in Iran; if they were ever to obtain a nuclear weapon it would have meant destruction and death. President Trump has gone over and beyond to try and negotiate to make sure that he was eliminating that threat.”

Vindman immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine as a three-year-old and ended up serving for more than two decades in the U.S. Army. He later served as a Russian-East European expert at the Pentagon before serving the National Security Council. He said on Friday that Democrats are “the party of national security and defense” and called Republicans ownership of that issue “nonsense.”

“They’re the party of wars of choice and they’re the party of foreign adventures,” he said.

Moody was selected to join the Senate Committee on Armed Services last month. Vindman mocked that selection on Friday night, saying his time serving in combat and dealing with national security issues means that his responsibility if elected to the Senate “is to ask tough questions, regardless of the party. It doesn’t make a difference who’s sitting in the White House. … Make sure that we are thoughtful on how we use force. We’re judicious. That we keep faith with our allies. That we keep our enemies at bay. That we do the right thing by our troops to keep this country safe.”

Training wheels

“That’s what my opponent, Ashley Moody has no capability of doing,” he said. “She was put on Senate Armed Services Commission to burnish her credentials. … That’s not like one of those jobs you do with training wheels. She’s not an intern. She should have the expertise to deliver. She can’t.”

The Moody Senate campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee is attacking Vindman for some of his previous comments about Donald Trump following the third possible assassination attempt against the president on Saturday night.

Vindman said on X Sunday that “Political violence must be condemned as anathema to democracy. We must lower the temperature on our politics.”

However, Emma Hall, Southeast regional communications director for the Republican National Committee, issued a press release on Monday highlighting previous social media posts by Vindman where he has called the president a “fascist” and compared “MAGA” to Nazism.

“Alexander Vindman’s words ring hollow after years of spewing hateful rhetoric against President Trump, putting a target on the backs of Republicans, and inciting deranged individuals to commit acts of violence,” Hall said.