Appearing on the GunFreedomRadio podcast, 26-year-old Army Reserve chaplain Alex Stovall, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Congress from Arizona, made his opinion of Joe Biden and the legitimacy of the 2020 election very clear, saying:
"We saw the inauguration of this well, I don't think he's President but whoever you would call this sleepy guy in office"
In an email this morning to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) alerting MRFF to Stovall’s wearing of his uniform in his campaign ads, a retired Air Force senior NCO asked:
“[D]oes wearing a uniform in the ad and directly attacking A.O.C. constitute a violation of Art 88 if being done and done on social-media in a cognizable duty status (such as on ADT Annual Tour or IDT weekend drills)?”
The answer to the retired NCO’s question in an unequivocal YES!!!
Article 88, part of Title 10 of the U.S. Code, also known as the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) addresses “Contempt toward officials,” stating (emphasis added):
“Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.”
For a military officer, publicly calling the president “this sleepy guy in office" and saying you “don't think he's President” is a punishable crime under the UCMJ.
Chaplain Stovall’s campaign ads also violate DoD Directive 1344.10, “Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces,” which contains a detailed section on what is and what is not allowed in campaign materials for active, reserve, or retired members of the military running for office.
The only use of photos of the candidate in uniform that is allowed are photos as part of the candidates biographical information, when accompanied by other non-military photos, and when also accompanied by a disclaimer stating that the appearance of the photo in uniform doesn’t imply a DoD endorsement.
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The focal point of Chaplain Stovall’s campaign ads is that he is a U.S. military chaplain — a chaplain who will “take on AOC.”
Chaplain Stovall’s campaign ads primarily target one person — Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). According to Stovall:
“Socialists like AOC hate two things — God and America.”
Not surprisingly, Stovall is also opposed to mask-wearing, idiotically saying on the GunFreedomRadio podcast:
“The government has no business telling us what to wear. … For Pete sake, you're telling me I have to wear a mask to go into a grocery store? Before you know it, they'll be telling you to wrap your face with Saran wrap.”
Equally unsurprising is that this Army Reserve chaplain and wannabe congressman is a former regional director for BLEXIT, the Trump-supporting organization founded by Candace Owens to “free” Black people from the Democratic Party.
He was also a “field organizer for the Trump Victory Campaign,” telling a reporter at the December 12, 2020 post-election-loss Trump rally in Washington, DC:
“I support President Trump because I’m a veteran myself, and he’s a patriot. He loves America. He doesn’t want America to be for sale anymore. Nor do I. I take pride in my country, I take pride in the things I fought for, and the brothers that have died before me. And if I could say anything to President Trump, I would say keep on keeping on. He’s fighting the good fight.”
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But, back to the matter at hand, Stovall is a U.S. military officer who is flagrantly violating military regulations to further his political ambition to join the ranks of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and Matt Gaetz (if he’s still in Congress and not in jail) in 2022.
MRFF, as it similarly and successfully did when failed Georgia Senate candidate and chaplain Doug Collins was similarly violating the same regulations in his 2020 Georgia primary ads, will be taking action to stop this anti-American chaplain/model/actor/financial advisor from illegally using his military rank and position to advertise his candidacy and his contempt for America.
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