With Republican Rep. Mark Amodei retiring in Nevada, his party has rallied behind David Flippo as his successor. The outgoing incumbent, however, has said he will “absolutely not” support the GOP nominee.

“The guy is a fraud,” Amodei said this week, referring to Flippo. “I’m not having my last action walking out the door to hug a guy who I think is a fraud.”

The criticisms came to mind after new allegations emerged of Flippo having repeatedly exaggerated his military service record. The Washington Post reported:

David Flippo, a Republican congressional candidate in Nevada, inflated his military record multiple times in recent years by falsely claiming he received a Bronze Star “for valor” during his two-decade Air Force career.

Flippo received a Bronze Star in 2004 for his service, but not the Bronze Star with valor, a much rarer distinction that recognizes heroism in direct combat with an enemy. Experts on military awards say such exaggerations are tantamount to lying. The Flippo campaign acknowledged the misrepresentations but downplayed them as “honest mistakes” by staff members.

It’s the repetition of the error that stands out in a story like this one. We’re not just talking about a random social media post published by an obscure intern. Rather, Flippo and his political operation, which has made his military service the centerpiece of his candidacy, have included the same exaggeration in television ads and multiple fundraising appeals.

Doug Sterner, a recipient of two Bronze Stars and one of the nation’s foremost experts on military awards, told the Post that Flippo’s error was “a big deal,” adding, “It’s pretty sad that this is a multiple-time thing. It shows a pattern of deception. It is someone trying to give an impression of their service that is not true. … It amounts to a lie.”

Flippo might very well win anyway. He ran in a competitive Nevada district two years ago and lost in a GOP primary, before he moved to a more reliably red district and picked up support from party leaders, including Donald Trump. The conventional wisdom suggests he’s the overwhelming favorite.

That said, some of the other Republican candidates in recent years who’ve been caught exaggerating their military service did struggle, including Ohio’s J.R. Majewski and Virginia’s Hung Cao. I’m also reminded of Georgia’s Herschel Walker, who during his failed 2022 Senate bid referenced a military “career” that never existed.

Flippo will face Democrat Teresa Benitez-Thompson, the former majority leader of the Nevada Assembly, in the general election. Watch this space.

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