One Oath, Two Candidates

On November 5, voters in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District will have two choices for their congressman, but only one honorable option – Eugene Vindman. 

As the voters go to the polls, they should consider the enduring value of the oath of office that Eugene Vindman and Derrick Anderson took on entering government service, and how it continues to govern our lives today. In that oath they swore to “support and defend the Constitution of The United States.”

Oaths are not transactional or fair weather matters. They bind professional and personal conduct. They guide us when emotions and circumstances tempt us to act otherwise. How we act, given oaths we take, is an exceptional measure of character.

Derrick Anderson and Eugene Vindman faithfully served as U.S. Army officers. They were indoctrinated in the Army's Core Values of Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal courage --  values considered a way of life for soldiers; values that shape—or should shape—the character of those who honor them. But, something seems to have changed with Anderson; his beliefs and actions now seem at odds with his Army oath and values. 

Anderson boasts of Donald Trump’s endorsement, calling himself as a “Trump Conservative” throughout the GOP primary race. Anderson approved Trump’s actions after he lost the 2020 election, culminating in the attack on the Capitol which caused the death of five people and serious injuries to more than 100 Capitol and Washington DC police officers. Trump now promises to pardon persons who were convicted of crimes they committed during the attack. Derrick Anderson seems okay with that and, to this day, endorses Trump’s “Big Lie” that ignited the insurrection. Indeed, he attacked his primary opponent for not endorsing it enough!

During that GOP primary, Anderson demeaned his opponent’s service in the Department of Homeland Security, during the Biden administration, as evidence of unreliability and politically insufficient conservatism. In doing so, he disparaged the concept of a non-partisan civil service that has served our country well for 150 years. He also disparaged the 7th District’s thousands of civil servants, whom he hopes to represent.  With Anderson’s help, Trump would turn our professional Civil Service into a patronage gig for his personal loyalists.

Anderson runs on his record as an Army Green Beret while also running on endorsements from the architects of the January 6th insurrection and “Big Lie” propagandists that the 2020 election was stolen. Courting their support betrays his Army oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.” 

In sharp contrast, Eugene Vindman honored his oath as an Army officer and, under enormous pressure, demonstrated personal moral courage when he alerted authorities that Trump likely broke federal law when–for political gain–Trump tried to extort Ukrainian President Zelenskyy over critically needed military supplies. Vindman did his job; he reported Trump as the law required. Trump retaliated, ruining the Army careers of Vindman and his brother.

Eugene Vindman never deviated from the oath he took many years ago and continues to live by it today. Along the way, Derrick Anderson sacrificed his honor as the price of admission to MAGA, choosing fealty to Trump over fidelity to his Country and oath. 

On January 3rd, 2025, one of these men will take an oath, nearly identical to the one they took in the Army, as they enter the House of Representatives. The candidate who honors his oath, still today, deserves your vote.

We stand with Eugene Vindman 100% and hope that you will join us.

Denis Kaufman, Senior Chief Petty Officer, US Navy (Ret), Orange County, VA