The “most lethal sniper in U.S. military history” is standing by his claim that he cold-clocked Jesse “The Body” Ventura after the former politician and show-wrestler shot his mouth off about dead SEALs.
“We had just come back from our ’06 deployment when we had lost our guys,” Chris Kyle — author of “American Sniper” — originally told the Opie and Anthony radio show. “We were having a wake for the guy who got the Medal of Honor, Mikey Mansoor, and [Ventura] happened to be there [at McP’s Pub in Coronado, Calif.].
“He was upset with the war. He doesn’t agree with it, which is fine,” continued Kyle. “You don’t have to agree with the war. I just got sent there. I don’t have to agree with politics. I signed up to serve the country. The country tells me what to do. But he was making it known that he did not agree with it and I approached him and said, hey, I appreciate it but we’re having a wake.
“It was the SEAL bar there in town. I said, we’re having a wake here, the family’s here. I would appreciate it if you just kinda keep it down,” recalled Kyle. “He told us that we were killing innocent people over there — men, women, children — that we were murderers. I said, you know what, we can all have our differences, that’s fine. But please just don’t upset the family.
“And then he said that, you know, we deserved to lose a few guys.”
That’s when Kyle lost his composure. “I punched him,” said Kyle. “He went down.”
Watch Kyle tell the story:
Ventura responded in a Facebook statement on Saturday, denying the event ever took place.
“The event this man spoke of never happened,” wrote Ventura. “I have been to Mc P’s many times since leaving the Navy. I was never there alone. I was always accompanied by other people. If this happened 6 years ago, someone would have known of it before now. Certainly in the UDT/SEAL community it would have been known. This has to be news to all of us.
“I have always opposed the war in Iraq but I have never spoken or wished any ill will towards the soldiers,” Ventura continued. “My heart aches that soldiers have died or been wounded because this war should never have taken place. I am perplexed over the agenda this man has and why a fellow Navy Seal would tell a lie about an event that never happened.”
In an interview with The Daily Caller — during The Matt Lewis Podcast, set to be released this week — Kyle responded to Ventura’s denial by standing by his original story.
“The incident is in my book,” said Kyle. “His name was purposely left out because I was not wanting any of this to ever come up and then on another radio show a caller came in and dropped his name, definitely caught me off guard, and I was unprepared. So, I just said yes, you know, it was him, and admitted to the whole thing.”
Listen to Kyle tell TheDC that witnesses are going to come forward:
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Kyle said he never expected the bar-fight story to become this big.
“But since then, the thing has taken off and it’s definitely drawn attention away from the book and the story that I’m trying to get out,” he lamented. “And I’m also not trying to sell books by mudslinging on to somebody else or a character assassination on him.”
“So, for now, I am sitting back, saying nothing,” offered Kyle. “I’m gonna allow Mr. Ventura to get his word out and also the witnesses are coming forward,” he revealed, hinting that this saga may not be quite over.
“I have asked the guys to go ahead and state their mind … I am going to allow the witnesses to go ahead and come out.”
