JD Vance Accuses Tim Walz, Who Served 24 Years in the National Guard, Of Stolen Valor: ‘Don’t Pretend To Be Something You’re Not!’

Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) attacked the military record of Tim Walz during a press conference on Wednesday morning by accusing him of stolen valor.

Vance claimed that Walz “abandoned” his unit in the National Guard before it was deployed to Iraq while attacking the Democratic VP nominee for his apparent claims that he served in a war.

Walz served in the National Guard in Nebraska and later Minnesota for 24 years reaching the rank of commander sergeant major and was deployed to Italy. He decided to leave the National Guard in 2005 to pursue a political career by running for Congress.

Moreover, the Ohio senato r went after Walz for claiming he served in a war while explaining his stance on gun control.

In a video posted by the Kamala Harris campaign , Walz says on the issue of gun control, “I’ve been voting for common sense legislation that protects the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks. We can research the impacts of gun violence. We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war.”

Vance slammed Walz for never spending “a day in a combat zone” and that he would be “ashamed if I was him and I lied about my military service like he did.” Vance added:

Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war? When was this? What was this weapon that you carried into war, given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq, and he has not spent a day in a combat zone? What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen valor garbage. Do not pretend to be something that you’re not. And if he wants to criticize me for getting an Ivy League education, I’m proud of the fact that my mama supported me. That I was able to make something of myself. I’d be ashamed if I was him. And I lied about my military service like he did.

The cruz of Vance’s claim seems to be centered on comments Walz made — in a video posted by the Kamala Harris campaign — on the issue of gun control, “I’ve been voting for common sense legislation that protects the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks. We can research the impacts of gun violence. We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war.”

Following the press conference, CNN reporter Alayna Treene fact-checked Vance’s claims against Walz.

He was first, in the Nebraska National Guard and then moved over to Minnesota as National Guard. Nearly 24 years. He ended up being in the National Guard, I want to get this right, Command Sergeant Major. … I’ve dug into this a little bit, and Walz himself has responded to a lot of this. So essentially, he served up until 2005, right before he decided to leave the National Guard, which he says was to pursue a political career and try to run in Congress. He was deployed to Italy. Now, there are some people we have seen online, and we’ve seen the Trump campaign actually really seize on this. They’ve had some people who previously served with him who said that they felt like he abandoned them. When he resigned is when, later a couple months later, they ended up deploying his unit to Iraq. But others who also worked with Walz and were in the National Guard with him said, look, he always talked about wanting to run for Congress. It was very clear when he was deployed to Italy that he had political ambitions.

Watch the clip above via Fox News and CNN.