VA Dems Veterans Caucus Chair Charley Conrad: “Using our Virginia National Guard troops as political props is abhorrent to my every impulse as a veteran”

From the Democratic Party of Virginia:

Statement On Youngkin’s Political Troop Deployment From Chair of VADEMS’ Veterans Caucus, Charley Conrad

RICHMOND, VA – Last week, Governor Youngkin joined the brave men and women of Virginia’s National Guard for a photo-op as he prepared to ship 100 of them away from their families in the service of a political stunt.

The photo-op and subsequent deployment is estimated to cost Virginia taxpayers upwards of $3.1 million, as Governor Youngkin joins the ranks of other governors-turned-presidential-candidates, like Ron DeSantis, who have performed similar stunts.

After Youngkin’s thinly-veiled political stunt, Charley Conrad, Chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia’s Veterans Caucus, released the following statement:

“Using our Virginia National Guard troops as political props is abhorrent to my every impulse as a veteran.

The Virginia National Guard is to be used to offer aid in times of dire emergency — not to fulfill the political errands of a Governor desperate to prove his political chops on a national stage.

Not only is it a massive waste of Virginia taxpayer’s dollars, it’s also extraordinarily disrespectful to Virginia’s uniformed men and women. We should not risk the lives of our Guard members and disrupt their families for a political errand.”