Rep. Scott Perry (R-10), former chair of the House Freedom Caucus, said during a radio interview that Democratic representatives in Congress who served “hate the military” and that “their votes say they don’t support America.”

Speaking on the Chris Stigall Show, the central Pennsylvania representative said, “That’s only a credential that they get when they want to run for office. They join the military, they serve a little bit, they get the credential and then they run for office and wear the uniform and say, ‘Look at me — I support America.’ But let’s face it, all their votes say they don’t support America.”

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Perry, who served as a brigadier general in the U.S. Army, continued by saying that “They don’t care about the Constitution or the nation’s defense.”

Janelle Stelson, a Democrat who lost to Perry by 1.26 percent or 5,000 votes in 2024 and is mounting another challenge in this election cycle, was quick to criticize the seven-term congressman.

“It is shameful that Congressman Scott Perry questions the patriotism of the men and women who are serving our country,” said Stelson in a statement. “Rep. Perry owes the military veterans in our district and his veteran colleagues in Congress an immediate apology.”

In a losing effort, Stelson outperformed former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 10th congressional district that comprises Dauphin, Cumberland and York counties. She raised an eye-popping $1.2 million in the third quarter of 2025 and led Perry, 46%-43% in a July survey conducted by Public Policy Polling.

Rep. Chris Deluzio (PA-17), a Pennsylvania Democrat who served in the Navy and on the ground in Iraq with U.S. Army Civil Affairs, tweeted “I’ll take no lecture about my military service or love of country from anyone who was part of the plan to overthrow the 2020 election and rip our Constitution to shreds. There are going to be some furious Pennsylvania Democratic veterans when they hear Scott Perry smear them with trash like ‘they don’t care about the Constitution or the nation’s defense’ and that ‘they hate the military.'”

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Eli Cousin piled on.

“It’s despicable that Congressman Scott Perry would insult the sacrifice and service of American service members and veterans simply because he disagrees with their political views,” he said. “There is no low that Perry won’t stoop to – not even when it comes to disparaging our brave men and women in uniform. Perry owes an apology to veterans, service members, and military families for diminishing their sacrifices and insulting their patriotism.”

There has not been a comment from Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), an Air Force veteran who grew up in a military family. According to her bio, her parents met when her father and grandfather flew P3s in the same Navy squadron. She earned her engineering degree from Stanford with an ROTC scholarship that launched her service in the U.S. Air Force and Air Force Reserves, and later earned her M.S. in Technology and Policy from MIT. 

This story is developing and will be updated