{"id":75011,"date":"2026-06-17T18:55:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T23:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/trump-endorsed-congressional-candidate-pledges-entire-174k-salary-to-wounded-iraq-war-veterans-family\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T18:55:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T23:55:35","slug":"trump-endorsed-congressional-candidate-pledges-entire-174k-salary-to-wounded-iraq-war-veterans-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/trump-endorsed-congressional-candidate-pledges-entire-174k-salary-to-wounded-iraq-war-veterans-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump-endorsed congressional candidate pledges entire $174K salary to wounded Iraq War veteran’s family"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trump-endorsed Republican congressional candidate Anthony Constantino<\/a> says he will donate $174,000 \u2014 the equivalent of one year\u2019s congressional salary \u2014 to the family of Sgt. Eddie Ryan, a wounded Iraq War veteran, regardless of whether he wins his race in New York\u2019s 21st Congressional District.<\/p>\n

Constantino, the CEO of Sticker Mule, made the surprise pledge on June 10 at a campaign event in Queensbury, New York, handing Ryan\u2019s family a handwritten note promising the donation, according to local news outlet The Daily Gazette<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“I planned to give away my entire congressional salary from day one,” Constantino told Fox News Digital. “My team presented a few options and I immediately thought of Sgt. Eddie Ryan because he inspired me to fight harder early in this race.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

BLUE STATE CEO WHO PUT UP 100-FOOT PRO-TRUMP SIGN TO SPEND $2.6 MILLION ON CAMPAIGN FOR CONGRESS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Constantino added, “I want this to become a symbolic gesture that encourages more Americans to fight, fight, fight for a better future while simultaneously inspiring other people of means to support our great Veterans.”<\/p>\n

Ryan, a former U.S. Marine Corps<\/a> sniper, was severely wounded by friendly fire in Iraq in 2005. He was shot twice in the head, suffered a traumatic brain injury and now faces lasting mobility and speech challenges, The Daily Gazette reported.<\/p>\n

Constantino said he first met Ryan and his family earlier this year outside a Warren County Republican Committee<\/a> meeting. The exchange lasted less than a minute, but he said it left a lasting impression.<\/p>\n

“Sgt. Ryan is a role model for loving America and staying positive in the face of adversity. He was severely wounded in combat and proudly says he would do it again with a big smile,” Constantino said.<\/p>\n

RACE TO SUCCEED REP. ELISE STEFANIK IN UPDATE NEW YORK HEATS UP WITH NEW CHALLENGER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Ryan said he was stunned by the announcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m still floored,” Ryan said after the pledge was revealed, according to The Daily Gazette.<\/p>\n

Constantino is running against state Assembly Member Robert Smullen in the June 23 Republican primary to succeed Rep. Elise Stefanik in New York\u2019s 21st Congressional District<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He has spent millions of dollars of his own money on the campaign and has cast the race as a fight against the political establishment.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s an opportunity to move the country in a positive direction in a big way,” Constantino said. “Once I saw first hand how bad the swamp that President Trump talks about so much really is, I felt I had no choice but to use my resources to fight it to create a better future for America.”<\/p>\n

BRIAN MAST: I\u2019M A WOUNDED WARRIOR. I\u2019VE SEEN DONALD TRUMP CARE FOR VETERANS. THAT\u2019S WHY I\u2019M VOTING FOR HIM<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump<\/u><\/a> endorsed Constantino \u2014 who previously fought local officials to keep a massive pro-Trump sign on his factory \u2014 in the race to fill Stefanik\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n

“It is my Great Honor to endorse America First Patriot, Anthony Constantino, who is running to represent the fantastic people of New York\u2019s 21st Congressional District,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in April.<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trump-endorsed Republican congressional candidate Anthony Constantino says he will donate $174,000 \u2014 the equivalent of one year\u2019s congressional salary \u2014 to the family of Sgt. Eddie Ryan, a wounded Iraq War veteran, regardless of whether he wins his race in New York\u2019s 21st Congressional District. Constantino, the CEO of Sticker Mule, made the surprise pledge … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75011\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}