Bucks County state rep slams Pennsylvania GOP for ‘outright lies’ about his military service

What questions do you have about the 2024 elections? What major issues do you want candidates to address? Let us know.

Pa. state Rep. Brian Munroe, who represents the 144th district in Bucks County, said his Republican opponent, Dan McPhillips, has been spreading “outright lies” about Munroe’s military service.

An attorney representing Munroe has sent Dan McPhillips and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania letters requesting retraction of all relevant ads. McPhillips’ campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

Recent flyers and a video ad attack Munroe, alleging he has been arrested four times and questioning his discharge from the Navy. Some of the ads cite an article from Broad + Liberty, which attributes the alleged arrest records to an unofficial database called Intelius.

Munroe said that information is inaccurate, and he has never been arrested. He said he received a public drinking ticket when he was 21, and “had to fill out paperwork” for a pocket knife in his possession, a case that was eventually dismissed.

As for his military record, Munroe said the Navy offered him an honorable discharge after his approximately two-and-a-half years of service, which included time in a combat zone. He left in order to take care of his mother, who was sick with cancer at the time.

“It’s just an outrage,” Munroe told WHYY News. He said the rhetoric is damaging to new military personnel and veterans like himself.

“What are we saying to them, that they can go off and serve in the military, even serve in a combat zone like I did, and when they get out of the military honorably, and I’m going to repeat that, honorably, but then years later, for political points, we can just try to strip that away from them?,” Munroe said. “It’s disgusting. Dan McPhillips needs to apologize. Full stop.”