Marine Corps to Duncan Hunter: Can You Like, Not Tag Me in That

The U.S. Marine Corps has asked Republican California Rep. Duncan Hunter to stop using the official Corps emblem and phrase on his campaign materials in a cease-and-desist letter, NBC News reported today.

The letter, obtained by the network, informed the vaping congressman that the Corps Trademark Licensing Office was aware his campaign was using the official emblem and the slogan “No Better Friend, NO Worse Enemy” as part of his campaign, “namely, on at least one fundraising mailer to your constituents.”

The Corps also demanded his campaign “immediately remove the Emblem and the Phrase from its mailers, and, without limitation, from all other campaign materials including websites and other instances where the Emblem or the Phrase are being used. We also request that you provide us with a timetable as to your compliance with our requests.”

Hunter, a former marine, used the branding on at least one piece of campaign material: a mailer with an envelope showing Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, as well as Hunter’s 2018 Democratic opponent Ammar Campa-Najjar. The mailer labels the three politicians “radical Democrats,” calls Omar an anti-Semite, says Tlaib is “anti-Isreal,” [sic] and dubs Campa-Najjar the “grandson of a terrorist.”

“As a Marine, I’ll never forgot the 1983 Beirut Bombings and the 1972 Olympic Murders!” a message on the envelope, signed by “Duncan,” reads.

In a statement to NBC News, Marine Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Stuart Fugler said the emblem is protected by federal law and should not be used for political activities. A spokesperson for Hunter’s campaign said it received the Marine Corps’ request and immediately complied.

This has become just another sweet self-own for Hunter, who’s currently facing federal charges of wire fraud, campaign finance violations, and falsifying records. (He’s pleaded not guilty.)