‘Call of Duty Doesn’t Count’: GOP Senator Who Never Served in Military Shredded for Comments About ‘Smell’ of War 2026

Balgarianovinite.com

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) was vociferously mocked Monday for comments he made about the “smell” of war despite never serving in the military, much less combat, himself.

Mullin was on Monday’s episode of America Reports to discuss with anchor John Roberts the latest developments with the U.S. military operations in Iran, including the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

During the interview, Mullin praised President Donald Trump, calling him “the first president in 47 years to actually have a backbone to do something” about the situation in Iran.

“When the president came out and he talked to the American people, he was very resolved and direct on what we could expect,” Mullin continued, and then spoke about the horrors of war:

War is ugly. It smells bad. And if anybody has ever been there and been able to smell the war that’s happening around you, and taste it, and feel it in your nostrils, and hear it, it’s something that you’ll never forget. And it’s ugly.

And fortunately you have President Hegseth — err, I said President Hegseth, Secretary Hegseth — that is got a great relationship with President Trump and President Hegseth’s been there. He’s done that.

Video clips of Mullin’s comments drew swift ridicule, not just for his slip-up erroneously referring to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as the president, but for his graphic description of war when he had not personally served in combat or in any of the military branches at all. One person called his remarks “very stolen-valor adjacent.”

Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY), a West Point graduate and Army intelligence officer who served two combat tours in Iraq, posted a scathing tweet asking Mullin “what the actual f*ck are you talking about?”

“Did I miss the part of your bio where you served in combat (or served in uniform at all??),” he added. “Call of Duty doesn’t count.”

Multiple commenters also shared images of Mullin taking shelter in the Senate chambers during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.

A sampling of additional reactions is below.

Mullin, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, made additional errors in another television hit Monday, this time on CNN. As noted by Yashar Ali, Mullin made numerous mistakes about the identity of Iran’s leaders over the years and their opinions about nuclear weapons.

Wrote Ali:

WOW.

US Senator Markwayne Mullin, who serves on the Armed Services Committee, believes that Ayatollah Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has been the Supreme Leader since 1979.

He also believes that Ayatollah Khomeini (the founder of the Islamic Republic and the first Supreme Leader) came into power saying he wanted a nuclear Iran.

That is false.

In fact, he was very skeptical of nuclear ambitions.

It wasn’t until years later that the Islamic Republic became interested in pursuing nuclear enrichment.

Watch the clip above via Fox News.

The post ‘Call of Duty Doesn’t Count’: GOP Senator Who Never Served in Military Shredded for Comments About ‘Smell’ of War first appeared on Mediaite.

‘Call of Duty Doesn’t Count’: GOP Senator Who Never Served in Military Shredded for Comments About ‘Smell’ of War 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-03-03 05:09:22 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law