LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It was a shocking claim: Democrats saying an Army combat veteran who was badly burned and permanently scarred in combat while serving overseas looked "weird."
But, an investigation by Channel 13 found no evidence to support the allegation made by Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sam Brown on Facebook and in a series of fundraising emails sent this year.
It appears to have begun back on July 30, when Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, visited Las Vegas for a rally. Later in the day, he and Brown flew to Reno on Vance's campaign airplane.
Nevada Democrats seized on a Brown tweet posted to the X platform that included a photo of the two men on board, saying "You can't make this up: Sam Brown and JD Vance are claiming to be champions for hardworking Nevadans — from a private jet. They're not only hypocrites... they're just plain weird."
You can’t make this up: Sam Brown and JD Vance are claiming to be champions for hardworking Nevadans – from a private jet.They’re not only hypocrites… they’re just plain weird. pic.twitter.com/qEOteCvlzP
— NV Dems (@nvdems) July 31, 2024
Although nothing in that post referred to Brown's appearance in any way, Brown took to Facebook later that day to complain the Democrats were attacking his personal appearance.
Brown repeated the allegation in fundraising emails sent to supporters, saying in one "I saw an interesting message from the Democrats calling my face weird."
In another, he said, "The Democrats said I look "just plain weird."
And in yet a third, Brown accused the Nevada State Democratic Party itself of saying he looked weird.
Brown's history of service
Brown has a long history of service. He was accepted to and graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army. He was promoted twice to the rank of captain and he deployed to Afghanistan.
In 2008, while checking a transportation route, he and his convoy came under fire from the Taliban. During the fight, his Humvee hit an improvised explosive device and was destroyed. Brown was doused with gasoline and badly burned, but survived thanks to his gunner— who pulled him out of the vehicle and doused the flames.
It took years — and 30 surgeries — for Brown to recover. He met his future wife, Amy, while recovering from his injuries. But, he was scarred for life by his harrowing experience, which he refers to frequently in his fundraising emails.
Undeterred by his wounds, Brown ran for the Texas House of Representatives in 2014, but lost. He moved to Nevada and in 2022 sought the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, but lost in the primary to Adam Laxalt.
This year, he won a crowded primary for the right to challenge Democrat Jacky Rosen for Nevada's other U.S. Senate seat.
A serious charge
Channel 13 searched for messages from official Democratic sources that either called Brown's appearance weird, or could have been construed as doing so, but we were unable to locate any.
We also asked Democratic and Republican sources if they were aware of any such message, but the only message they identified was was the July 30 post on X.
We asked Brown's campaign repeatedly to point us to the message to which he was referring in his Facebook video. They didn't do so. But Brown's campaign did provide us with a statement, which reads:
"Sam's appearance is constantly under attack from online trolls who call him "Freddy Krueger" and "weird" and "overcooked", to name a few of the common phrases. While the NV Dems are busy name-calling, Nevada families are struggling to pay high prices for gas and groceries caused by the Bidenomics that Jacky Rosen voted for and fully supports."
But Brown didn't say "online trolls" called him weird; he said it was "the Democrats," and even "the Nevada Democratic Party" who called his face weird. We followed up repeatedly with his campaign asking for any message in which an official Democratic source referred to his appearance as weird, but did not hear back.
In the absence of such a message, we conclude that Brown at best mischaracterized a post on X and made an unsupported allegation against Democrats.
If anyone from the party or one of its candidates' campaigns had called his face weird, it would have been despicable. But so, too, is accusing Democrats of an insensitive libel. We rate Brown's claims on Facebook and in fundraising emails totally false.
