Former Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, the U.S. Marine who was arrested for posting public criticism of the botched Afghanistan withdrawal and discharged from duty, says he’ll probably run for elected office in 2024.
Scheller is putting together a coalition of candidates running for political office - many of whom are veterans - which currently consists of 20 for the House and five for the Senate, Just the News reports. With his coalition, Votes for Vets, he offers candidates access to political action committees, media members and other resources to help with their races.
“I am a conservative, but I think we need leaders and not politicians,” Scheller said.
Conceding that he doesn’t necessarily have “the physical, mental, spiritual endurance right now to jump into a race,” he said he plans on “supporting this coalition that [he] built” and will “probably jump into a race in ‘24.”
In terms of his viral Facebook video on the Afghanistan withdrawal, Scheller said he would go back and do it over again, but change some of his wording to avoid things being taken out of context.
“What has tripped me up are selective, out-of-context, little statements that people try to use to discredit my whole message,” he said.
He noted that he “never mentioned Biden’s name once,” and said he has “a lot of respect for the office of the president.”
As previously reported by Human Events News, Scheller spent time in the brig after posting a video challenging his chain of command and demanding accountability from senior leaders on the situation in Afghanistan. He was issued a letter of reprimand and a forfeiture of $5,000 worth of pay for one month after pleading guilty to all charges.
The letter of reprimand was less than what was recommended. Prosecution recommended a forfeiture of $5,000 of pay for 6 months and a letter of reprimand. The maximum penalty, meanwhile, could have been forfeiture of ⅔ monthly pay for a year and a letter of reprimand.
At the end of last year, Scheller was officially discharged from the Marine Corps.
