Soldiers who served with Harold Earls criticize “tasteless” political ad showing “Gold Star families burying and mourning dead service members”
Georgia Republicans are off to a rocky start after one of their first congressional candidate recruits got hit with a Department of Defense investigation for a campaign launch video that features footage of “Gold Star families burying and mourning dead service members, and close-ups of graves.”
According to reporting by Military.com, Georgia Republican Harold Earls is facing an investigation over whether he “abused his position” for a “partisan political ad,” which soldiers who served with him called “tasteless” and “a violation of morals.”
In addition to allegedly “misusing military media assets,” Earls is facing questions about whether he received “the families’ permission to use the images in a partisan advertisement” and displayed an award that “there is no record of him earning […] in Army records reviewed by Military.com.”
Read more in Military.com:
- “The Defense Department is investigating whether a former Army officer abused his position, either employing video he made while on duty or misusing military media assets for a partisan political ad for his congressional bid.”
- “[Harold Earls’] announcement, which used footage of Gold Star families burying and mourning dead service members, and close-ups of graves, was met with scorn on social media and by eight soldiers with whom he served who spoke to Military.com on the condition of anonymity.”
- “‘We are working to determine if and what appropriate action may be required,’ Defense Department spokeswoman Cynthia Smith told Military.com.”
- “Footage also includes close-ups of graves where the names of fallen service members are clearly visible. That does not break any laws, but it is unclear whether Earls’ campaign received the families’ permission to use the images in a partisan advertisement.”
- “Soldiers who served with Earls and spoke with Military.com called the use of Gold Star families in a political ad tasteless. All said that if Earls owned any of the footage himself, and used it without the families’ consent, it would represent a violation of morals.”
- “Most service members interviewed on condition of anonymity either identified as Republicans or said they don’t care enough about politics to have an ideology.”
- “Neither Earls nor his campaign responded to multiple requests for interviews and comment.”
- “In Earls’ campaign ad, and in multiple photos online, he is wearing a Sentinel Badge. But there is no record of him earning the award in Army records reviewed by Military.com.”
- “One classmate who was junior to Earls said he sold him a shirt to fund his trek up Mount Everest. ‘He was supposed to be my upper-class mentor at West Point when I was a plebe,’ a former cadet said. ‘He sat me down at the mess hall, asked me how I was, and told me to buy one of the T-shirts he was selling to fund his Everest climb.’”
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