Veterans have a unique role in advancing democracy. That’s according to the nonpartisan group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and the bipartisan group democracyFIRST. They hosted an event called Pints and Patriotism in Waukesha in October ahead of the 2024 general election. One goal? To get voters to demand that candidates pledge to accept election results and stop spreading election misinformation
Republican former President Donald Trump has yet to do either, perhaps even cueing up new angles to contest the results if he loses in November. That’s the elephant in the room at the conversation in a back room at Raised Grain Brewing Company. According to a September poll by the Pew Research Center, a majority of military veterans around the country do, in fact, support Trump.
Before the discussion started, people lined up at the buffet table and the bar for whatever’s on tap. “The bartender asked me what I normally drink, and I said, ‘Miller Light.’ So he said, ‘Here, try this,” said Michael Bzdawka. He served in Operation Desert Storm in Iraq and is here with Shawn Stice, another Navy veteran.
Stice heard about the event on Facebook and was hoping for a bipartisan turnout. “Well, I was kind of skeptical coming out here, because Waukesha seems like a big Trump town, so I wanted to be with veterans that you know, know that we're not just suckers and losers.” He said “Donald Trump called veterans suckers and losers many times, you know, and just disrespected vets.”
Stice is a Democrat. There are about 50 people here — some Harris supporters, some Trump supporters, others who don’t like either candidate. But they’re here because two organizations asked them to come together in a time of so much divisiveness. And to push back against election skepticism.
Allison Jaslow is CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. She said veterans were trained to have values like loyalty, duty, respect and selfless service. “If veterans can help, let's call it coach, our fellow countrymen to kind of live and demonstrate those same values. I think that can go a long way to sort of healing what we all feel like is very broken or divided.”
She shared stories about how veterans had to put aside their differences when serving in the military for a bigger goal, and sometimes their sheer survival. “People shit talk each other, of course, when you know you're not having to be serious or locked in, but when it all comes down to it, you know when lives are on the line, like there's an enemy, and then there's your fellow, you know, soldier, who's to the left of you and to the right of you. And that loyalty supersedes all.”
At the Waukesha event, Jaslow sat down for a Q&A with Jordan Wood, executive director of the bipartisan group democracyFIRST. When they opened it up for questions, Tim Lanigan, a 13-year Army veteran, was one of the first to speak up. He said he doesn’t buy into the hype that this is “the most important election of our lifetime,” or that as a voter, he’s a threat to democracy because of his views.
Wood, from democracyFIRST, responded: “You cannot spread lies about the electoral process, and you when the votes are counted and recounted, going through the courts, once that's done, then the result is accepted and certified. And really try to, you know, if you do not agree with those principles that is a threat to the system, to the democratic system.”
But, out by the bar, even after hearing from the panelists, Lanigan, the veteran of 13 years, said it still bothers him when people say Trump is a threat to democracy. "It does because he turned over power peacefully. He — oh, boy, here we go. No, I think it's one of those things is like, yes, he’s bombastic, and there's a lot of rhetoric behind it, but ultimately, I believe that he just wants what's good for America.”
In fact, Trump is being prosecuted for inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. He continued his messaging that the election was rigged and stolen throughout the 2020 election season and a mob of his supporters, some armed with guns, attacked the Capitol.
Even though he said what happened on January 6 was a peaceful transition of power, Lanigan doesn’t like that Trump continues to say he won Wisconsin in 2020.
“I don't necessarily agree with that, but Kamala says that she's secured the border. So there's a lot of people that talk. They're politicians. They're two-faced, they talk outside both sides of their mouth. That's politics, man. You gotta, you know, figure out what's truth or not," he said.
At several points, the conversation in the room got a little heated. One woman kept interrupting by saying she thought there was fraud in elections. Other people started to chime in. “Not in my district!” or “Not where I voted.”
The woman left before WUWM was able to speak with her, but her attitude turned off Tom Vaughan, a conservative-leaning voter who said two of his kids are veterans. “I’m so tired of the mantra, right of the Trumpster. I'm tired of the impassioned, embittered, scorned voter that got burned in the last election, because I don't believe that. I believe in democracy. I accepted the results, and I was able to move through that.”
But Vaughan said even though Trump’s election denialism is “a tough pill to swallow,” he’s still likely to vote for him because of his border policies. “We just really want to get through the security issue of this next four years.”
Ultimately, Vaughan said he liked that the event was a mix of people from the right and left.
He said that’s part of the solution. “Keep talking, keep coming to these seeded, small community gatherings, right that are bipartisan or tri-partisan, right? And let's just keep the discussion open.” And, like the organizations hosting the event, he thinks vets can lead the way.
