OSSINING, NY – In case you missed it, NY-17 congressional candidate Cait Conley appeared on CNN This Morning, calling out Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Trump for politicizing the military and putting party over patriotism. Earlier this week, Hegseth and Trump attacked the military as “woke,” suggested using U.S. cities for military exercises and warned of an “invasion from within,” and went so far as to say members of the military should serve at the pleasure of the president.
Cait is a West Point graduate and Hudson Valley native who served 16 years in combat, including six overseas deployments as one of the first women officers on the tactical side of a Special Operations unit. She led high-stakes missions in North Africa, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, hunting down some of the world’s deadliest terrorists — not for a party or politician, but for her country and the Constitution she swore to defend.
On CNN, Cait made it clear – the military swears an oath to serve and defend the US Constitution, not a person or political party. And she’ll stand up to anyone who tries to change that.
Key Quotes:
- “What you saw yesterday wasn’t about America. It was about one man’s ego and putting not this country first, but partisan politics and showmanship. And that can’t be what the US military is about. We should have a leader in the DoD who is looking forward, not backwards.”
- “We already have the most effective and lethal fighting force in the world, and that is because of the incredible men and women who put on the uniform, raise their hands [to swear] an oath to the Constitution and choose to serve… For the last decade, we have seen our military have combat arms forces with the best people manning them. That is both men and women, because it is in America’s best interest to pull from 100% of its population to have the most effective fighting force in the world, not just 50%… We’re relitigating something that the military has already not only solved, but integrated and been made more effective from.
- “I served under Presidents Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden. I have, with incredible pride, seen the US military and its service members remain true to their oaths to the Constitution and to executing the lawful orders of whatever administration was in command.”
About Cait Conley:
Cait Conley is a fourth-generation Hudson Valley native and the daughter of a postal worker and a construction worker. She is a decorated combat veteran and national security expert who has spent her life answering the call to serve. That call began on 9/11, when, as a junior in high school, she watched the Twin Towers fall. The next day, she started the process for applying to West Point — earning acceptance and becoming the first in her family to graduate college and then going on later to attend graduate programs at Harvard and MIT. Cait served 16 years as an active duty Army officer, deploying six times to take down the world’s most dangerous terrorists, and later led counterterrorism efforts on the National Security Council and at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Throughout her career, Cait has been called upon to solve the toughest problem and fix things that are broken. That’s why Cait is running for Congress — to fix a broken system and fight for a better future for New Yorkers.
Learn more about Cait online at CaitConley.com.
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