- The marquee Montana US Senate election between Tim Sheehy and Jon Tester is on Tuesday.
- Sheehy is still addressing a gunshot wound incident that shook up the race earlier this year.
- The Senate race could determine whether Democrats retain their majority in the chamber.
Tim Sheehy, the Republican US Senate nominee in Montana and a former Navy SEAL, recently appeared on a podcast hosted by Megyn Kelly, in which he sought to address how he received a gunshot wound to his arm.
It’s an issue that has dogged Sheehy throughout his race against three-term Sen. Jon Tester, a contest that could determine whether Democrats hold their majority in the upper chamber.
In October, Kim Peach, a former US Park Service ranger, told The Washington Post that Sheehy told him in 2015 that he had accidentally shot himself in the right arm while in Glacier National Park in Montana.
Sheehy, earlier this year, admitted to The Post that he lied to the ranger about being wounded in the national park. (Sheehy has publicly said he was shot while serving in Afghanistan.)
The GOP candidate said he told Peach in October 2015 that his Colt .45 revolver fell to the ground and discharged to keep members of his unit from being probed over what he described as an overseas 2012 shooting that could have come from friendly fire, The Post reported.
Kelly, on her SiriusXM show last Friday, gave Sheehy the floor to address the issue.
“So just to be clear, did you shoot yourself in the arm?” the conservative host asked.
Sheehy responded: “No, that was never the allegation. The point is, it was a friendly fire that ricocheted downrange that wasn’t reported at the time.”
Kelly pressed Sheehy again if he shot himself in Glacier National Park. He said he didn’t. Kelly asked again, and Sheehy again denied that happened.
“At the time, I was injured and went to the hospital,” he said. “They required a police report because any gunshot wound requires a police report of any kind.”
Sheehy told Kelly that he fell and injured himself in the park, which he said “dislodged” the bullet from Afghanistan in his arm.
She asked Sheehy if there were medical records to show that he wasn’t treated for a gunshot wound during his 2015 hospital visit.
“There’s not an extensive medical record for any of this stuff,” he responded.
Sheehy suggested that he may have been wounded by an Afghan ally, remarking that it was “very, very common, where you’d have Afghans who, either intentionally or unintentionally, would end up shooting friendly forces.”
He added, “It was a hazardous environment where you’re dealing with actual hostile forces … but half the time, you’ve also gotta have one eyeball looking at our partner forces.”
During the interview, Sheehy called the story “a distraction.”
For months, Tester has used the issue to raise questions about Sheehy’s honesty.
“He has done things that, in a previous cycle, would have been disqualifying on their own,” Tester recently told The New York Times. “But we’re in a different time now and we’ll see. I still think Montanans are going to react to this in a way that won’t be good for him.”
Tester, a moderate Democrat, is seeking to defy the conservative lean of his rural Western state in an election where former President Donald Trump — who has endorsed Sheehy and remains popular in Montana — will be on the ballot.
To secure a fourth term, the Democratic incumbent must win over virtually all members of his party, perform strongly with independents, and peel off some Republicans.
GOP leaders have touted Sheehy’s military record and entrepreneurial background since he entered the race, and they’re encouraged by recent polls of the contest.
In an October New York Times/Siena College poll, Sheehy led Tester by eight points (52% to 44%) among likely voters. And a recent poll from Emerson College/The Hill gave Sheehy a four-point advantage (50% to 46%) over Tester among likely voters.
However, a Mountain States Poll released last month showed the race much closer, with Sheehy and Tester tied (43% to 43%). Tester also has a history of winning tough races, a testament to the political brand that he’s cultivated independent of national Democrats.
Business Insider reached out to the Sheehy campaign for comment.
