Amy McGrath is a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and former F/A-18 pilot. She graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, ran for the U.S. House and Senate in Kentucky as a Democrat, including in the 2026 Senate primary that Charles Booker won, founded the organization Honor Bound, and wrote the memoir Honor Bound: An American Story of Dreams and Service.
DI has documented statements by Amy McGrath on Health Care, Iran War, and Military and Defense, among other topics. Read the quotations, original sources and related cases below.
Role at the time: Retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and former Democratic Senate candidate, in a post on X
Condemned
Statement summary
Amy McGrath said six soldiers were killed in Kuwait after warnings that their facility was vulnerable to a drone attack, and that the Army finished its review in June but had not released it.
“Six American soldiers were killed in Kuwait after warnings that their facility was vulnerable to a drone attack. The Army finished its review in June—and still hasn’t released it.”
The case asks whether the military failed the troops wounded in the March 1 drone strike at Port Shuaiba, in protecting them and in caring for them afterward. McGrath says the soldiers were killed "after warnings that their facility was vulnerable to a drone attack" and faults the Army for not releasing its review. That criticizes how the military protected the troops and handled the aftermath, so we labeled it Condemned. The closest competing label is Mixed or conditional; it loses because the post contains no defense of the military's conduct.
Role at the time: Retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, former F/A-18 pilot and Democratic candidate in the 2026 Kentucky Senate primary, in a post on X
Condemned
Response to this claim
Vice President JD Vance said he would not call the U.S. fight with Iran a war, saying there is no active shooting right now and that major combat operations lasted about six weeks.
“He wouldn’t call it a war?
Are you kidding me?
Tell that to the families who have lost loved ones or those dealing with injuries from actual combat since February!”
McGrath rejects Vance's wording and points to people killed or injured in "actual combat since February". She criticizes the statement itself rather than only disputing the label, so condemns fits better than challenges the characterization.
Vice President JD Vance said he would not call the U.S. fight with Iran a war, citing no active shooting. President Trump defended the description; Sanders, Schumer and Massie criticized it, and Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson called the fighting aggression, not war.
Soldiers wounded in the March 1 Iranian drone strike at Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, say they lacked drone defenses and faced delayed care. Hegseth called the drone a "squirter" that hit a fortified site, and the Army has not released its investigation.
