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Senate candidate Kevin Nicholson taking heat for veterans comment

Posted at 10:37 PM, May 02, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-03 10:41:38-04

A Republican candidate for U.S. Senate is making national headlines for what he said about veterans. 

In a radio interview Kevin Nicholson questioned the “cognitive thought process” of Democratic veterans. 

The debate on the radio was about who was truly a conservative, Nicholson or his opponent state Sen. Leah Vukmir. The two are running against one another in the Republican Primary for U.S. Senate. 

Nicholson claimed he was the true conservative because he served in the military, and in an interview with Steve Scaffidi on WTMJ Radio, Nicholson took it a step further, lashing out at veterans who vote Democratic. 

"I'll tell you what, those veterans out there in the Democrat party, I question their cognitive thought process because the bottom line is they are signing up to defend the Constitution that their party is continually dragging through the mud,” Nicholson said. 

Veterans were quick to return the fire on Nicholson, including a Navy vet and Democratic Congressional candidate Tom Palzewicz.

“Being in the military we take an oath to defend the Constitution and our country and that is neither a conservative nor a liberal position,” Palzewicz said. 

He says there are a variety of issues important to veterans Nicholson could be focusing on, and he’s disappointed by the comments. 
“Being in the military makes you understand what service is. And service to your country which is a patriotic act, once again. Not a conservative or liberal act." Palzewicz said. 

Palzewicz is facing Republican Jim Sensenbrenner. Some veterans who spoke off camera said they vote for the person not the party or the position.