“War is ugly, smells bad, and if anybody’s ever been there, and been able to smell the war that’s happened around you and taste it and feel it in your nostrils and hear it, it’s something that you’ll never forget and it’s ugly,” he added. “And fortunately, you have, President Hegseth — or I say, ‘President Hegseth’ — Secretary [of Defense Pete] Hegseth that is — got a great relationship with President Trump. And [Secretary] Hegseth’s been there, he’s done that.”

Ryan, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, gave a fiery response to Mullin’s comments on the social platform X.

“Hey @SenMullin, what the actual f— are you talking about? Did I miss the part of your bio where you served in combat (or served in uniform at all??). Call of Duty doesn’t count,” Ryan said in a post on X Monday evening.