James Judge, a Republican candidate for the U.S. House in Florida and a Coast Guard veteran, told Valiant News that he was appalled to learn one Coast Guardsman who actively assisted with Hurricane Ian relief is set to be discharged over his refusal to take one of the controversial COVID-19 vaccines.
The story of Chad Watson permeated conservative media this week, with pundits shocked that a man described as a “hero” and personally thanked by Joe Biden due to his relief efforts following Hurricane Ian would soon be discharged from the Coast Guard due to his refusal to take a COVID-19 vaccine.
Judge, who told Valiant News he’s been using his personal boat – “The Slice of Life” vessel seen on the hit TV show “Dexter” – to engage in water rescues, said he was disgusted to hear Watson may lose his career during a natural disaster because of Biden.
“It’s shocking,” said Judge. “We’re discharging fully qualified people over a vaccine that has a lot of questions around it.”
After noting that many Americans are concerned about COVID-19 vaccine side effects, Judge added that, because of Joe Biden’s policies, the military is losing fully trained personnel at a time when recruiters are struggling to replace them.
“All the services are having issues meeting recruiting requirements right now, and they’re looking at discharging him because of a COVID vaccine?” Judge added, “That may be the most asinine thing I’ve ever heard.”
Judge has had first had experience dealing with Biden’s controversial military vaccine requirement, and told Valiant News that Biden seems to be further punishing those who refuse the vaccine by refusing to honorably discharge them.
“I’ve got another on my team – he’s volunteered on my campaign – who is in the U.S. Army and he’s going through something similar,” Judge told Valiant News. “They’re going to give him a general discharge, not even an honorable discharge or a medical discharge. We’re going to fight that.”
Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz have proposed legislation that would see the troops discharged under Biden restored to their posts and given some sort of reparations. Though supportive of the concept, Judge said he’d like to see the text of the bill, and would prefer for the U.S. Armed Forces to simply “do the right thing” instead.
“It sounds like a good idea, but I want to read the bill first,” said Judge. He explained, “I’m one for less laws. I want less government, I want less federal regulations.”
Still, he stressed that “it should be common sense” and pointed out that the decision, as it stands currently, is ultimately Joe Biden’s to make.
“He has the power to do it. If enough people put pressure on him,” Judge told Valiant News, suggesting he would be part of such a coalition if elected to Congress.
“I just don’t know if we need more legislation to do that,” said Judge. “If we do, that shows we’ve gotten to a really sad place in our country.”
Judge, a Florida native who served in the Coast Guard from 2003-2007, is now running for Congress in Florida’s 14th District. He faces Democrat incumbent Kathy Castor in November.
