Exclusive — Send in the Green Berets: Special Forces Vets Launch Congressional Campaigns

Green Beret veterans Derrick Anderson, Tyler Allcorn, and Tony Cowden gave exclusive interviews with Breitbart News to discuss their respective congressional campaigns.

Anderson, an A-Team leader in the Green Berets who served five deployments in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon, is running for Congress in Virginia’s seventh congressional district.

Allcorn is a former U.S. Army Special Forces veteran running for Congress in Colorado’s newly created eighth congressional district.

Cowden, who returned home from his November 2001 deployment in Afghanistan the most decorated Green Beret in history at his age, now seeks office in North Carolina’s fourth congressional district.

All three veterans sat down for exclusive interviews with Breitbart News Saturday host Matthew Boyle to discuss why they are running for office, President Joe Biden’s failed foreign policy, our new “woke” military, and much more.

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The trio touched on the need for veterans in Congress and why that motivated them to launch their campaigns.

Anderson mentioned that Congress is a way to serve the country “in a different capacity.” He also gave a shoutout to the six Navy SEALs veterans running in this year’s midterms. He said:

You know, the Green Berets put on their berets, and we’ve gone overseas to fight for our country over and over again and over the course of 20 years, right. Not to say that we can’t do that again, in a different capacity, right? Our service members mean a lot to us and our country means a lot to us. And what you’re seeing, in my opinion, is a lot of service members and a lot of veterans that are upset with how our country is being run that’s why you see a lot of these special operators specifically Navy Seals and Green Berets jumping to onto the next mission.

Allcorn touched on how the percentage of veterans in Congress has consistently declined since the 1970s. “There’s less than 20% are currently veterans right, and in the 70s it was closer to 75 or 77 percent, or something of that nature,” he said.

You would think there would be more, and I think, with a failure of leadership in our country, that’s why you’re starting to see many of us step up and say, “Send me send me to Congress, send me to serve once again.” But I think we need more veterans in there. And after 20 years of war, I think that we have a fairly good perspective on, you know, what the cost is, when you decide to get into a conflict, all of us have lost friends. And these things can’t be taken lightly.

Cowden mentioned that adding more veterans in Congress would potentially spur a congressional caucus of veterans.

You’re talking 35 or so veterans running for U.S. House and Senate around the nation. If only half of it got elected, you’re talking about a caucus. So typically speaking to a brand new freshman representative, not a lot of influence. Lobbyists aren’t even interested in them because they think they don’t know anything. But when you show up with 15, 20 veterans you’re talking about a caucus, it’s important.

The veterans also criticized Biden’s failed foreign policy, whether it was the botched withdrawal of Afghanistan or his weakness towards Russia.

Anderson mentioned that Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal is one of the reasons why he ran for office.

You know, I was sitting back and watching the botched withdrawal in Afghanistan. And that was the catalyst for being, you know, I lost five of my guys in Afghanistan. I lost two Green Berets and three infantrymen in Afghanistan, and I was thinking that the Biden administration’s lack of accountability and lack of leadership during and since of the Afghan withdrawal, and I decided I wasn’t going to sit back and scream at the TV anymore. I was sick and tired of sitting on the sidelines. Us special operators never sit on the sidelines.

Allcorn said that Biden’s withdrawal and the resulting 13 soldiers killed in Kabul are proof of his “inability to plan.”

“Biden showed us right in Afghanistan, his inability, inability to plan and his inability to take on responsibility for the catastrophe and the death of those 13 Marines at times 13 soldiers that died in Afghanistan, all because he was unable to lead effectively,” he said.

Allcorn also said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is amassing troops on the Ukrainian border because he “sees how weak Joe Biden is.”

Cowden said the Biden Administration “is just evil,” and added that “they just don’t care.” He also touched on how, during former President Barack Obama’s administration, the military “redesigned” the promotion process to promote weaker leaders.

The three veterans also touched on the “woke” military that’s being formed under General Mark Milley and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

Has the U.S. military ever been led by a man so hapless and incompetent as woke General Mark Milley? https://t.co/nfiDn8gxEH

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 20, 2021

“Our military is not a social experiment. Our military has one mission and one mission only. That is defend our nation from our enemies foreign and domestic,” Anderson said. He also pointed out that the Department of Defense focuses on the fewer than 100 service members classified as “extremists” instead of the 99.9 percent of members who are “doing the right thing.”

Allcorn spoke on potential solutions to disinfect the military of its “woke” ideology.

There’s a lot of different ways and different avenues, right, obviously going to Congress, you’re there to not just vote on policies, right. But you’re there to create policies, or repeal policies, depending on, you know, what the situation is and how we need to move forward as a country.

Cowden said today’s military is “more concerned with making sure we have transgender company commanders in Ranger Regiment or Special Forces.”

Breitbart News Saturday airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern.