A Republican congressional candidate from Kansas who touts himself as an “accomplished athlete and explorer” — with “heroic leadership” experience climbing Mount Everest and racing dogs “across the frozen tundra” — has been accused of being a fraud.

Steve Watkins, an Army veteran running for an open seat in the state’s 2nd District, got called out Tuesday by some of his peers in an article published by the Associated Press.

One man named Guy Cotter, whom Watkins quoted in a self-description posted on his campaign website and GOP Young Guns, flat-out accused the West Point grad of lying about his past — including claims that he helped stranded climbers during the 2015 Nepal earthquake disaster on Everest.

Watkins had said that Cotter and several others relied on his “heroic leadership amid the chaos” that day. But the renowned professional mountaineer insists this wasn’t the case.

“There was not really anything heroic to be able to do,” Cotter told the AP. “We all felt quite hopeless … because we were not there, where all the injured and dying people were, through that event. We were actually up on the mountain, so there was very little we could contribute.”

Cotter said he never even gave Watkins permission to quote him.

“I captured the statement, to the best of my memory,” Watkins told the AP in response. “He and I spoke frequently and often when we were up there, and he shared the sentiment.”

The 42-year-old Airborne Ranger describes himself online as a military leader and devoted “6th generation Kansan, growing up not far from the State Capitol” — but public records show that this may also be a drastic misconception.

According to the AP, he has only been living in the Sunflower State since last year.

Watkins reportedly left after high school and never returned. He even went so far as to apply for the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend program more than 10 times between 2002 and 2015, which offers payments to people who intend to live in the state indefinitely.

Small portions of the self-description posted on Watkins’ campaign website were reportedly removed after the AP reached out for comment. This included the quote from Cotter, as well as claims about his past achievements. They were still on the Young Guns website, however, as of 8 p.m. Tuesday.

“[Watkins] has led soldiers in war, raced dogs across the frozen tundra, climbed peaks, and narrowly escaped death countless times,” one sentence says. “Steve’s primary employer stated that “Steve Watkins is the greatest war-time leader we ever had — in either theater. The most difficult and dangerous jobs always went to him. Steve is the real Captain America.”

As for his dog racing experience, Watkins claims to have competed in Alaska’s world-famous Iditarod in 2015 and again this year, after announcing his run for congress. He finished the first race in 58th place out of 78, but failed to complete it the second time.

Four-time winner Jeff King called this year’s entry a political stunt — and Watkins’ portrayal as an adventurer a “gigantic fallacy.” He and several others told the AP that Watkins quit after 11 days and then dumped his dogs off with others.

“People were irritated with Steve because they were doing more work for his dogs than he was,” recalled Tara Cicatello, a musher who was on the trail that week..

“I don’t think he mistreated them. It just sounds like he was all about his campaign and the show of it than the actual doing of it,” she said.

State Sen. Steve Fitzgerald, Watkins’ former GOP rival, once referred to him as “a charlatan, a fraud and an opportunist.” Other politicians have pointed out how he’s never even voted in a partisan election in Kansas — and his biggest financial backer is his father.

“Clearly, this is the way the affluent get their middle-aged kids out of the basement,” Fitzgerald told the Kansas City Star in August.

Watkins first came under scrutiny late last month after the Star reported inaccuracies with his employment history. He had claimed to have started a business and built it from the ground up, when in fact he had joined the company — VIAP Inc. — as a contractor.

“I got out of the military, started a small business and grew it from three people to 470 people,” Watkins told a Miami County GOP candidate forum back in March.

“So I know what it’s like to have to sweat it and work to make payroll, to not take any salary so you can make ends meet.”

Watkins was eventually forced to walk back his comments.

“When I say I helped start and grow, it was operational,” he told the Star. “There were processes, systems that didn’t exist and I helped to start and create those processes and systems and products and services that we provided clients.”