Harris Campaign Releases Statement Defending Walz’s Military Record, Thanks JD Vance For His Service

AP Photo/Adam Bettcher, File

The Harris-Walz campaign released a statement on Wednesday after GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance accused Gov. Tim Walz of “stolen valor.”

Vance, a former Marine, tore into Walz during a presser in Detriot on Wednesday morning, saying, “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,” said Vance.

The Harris campaign defended its vice presidential candidate in a statement, saying:

After 24 years of military service, Governor Walz retired in 2005 and ran for Congress, where he chaired Veterans Affairs and was a tireless advocate for our men and women in uniform – and as Vice President of the United States he will continue to be a relentless champion for our veterans and military families. Governor Walz would never insult or undermine any American’s service to this country — in fact, he thanks Senator Vance for putting his life on the line for our country. It’s the American way.

Walz enlisted in the Army National Guard at 17 and served for 24 years, specializing in “heavy artillery and had ribbons for proficiency in sharpshooting and hand grenades,” according to local media in Minnesota. Walz retired from the National Guard to run for Congress and eventually became the chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee in the House. Walz was deployed on active duty during Operation Enduring Freedom, but served in Italy on a support mission. CNN noted that Vance was calling out Walz for saying in a 2018 video clip he carried a weapon in war:

Vance pointed to a video promoted by the Harris campaign on social media Tuesday, in which Walz is speaking about his decision to change his position and support an assault weapons ban after the Parkland shooting in 2018.

“We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at,” Walz said in the video.

CNN also detailed the timeline of Walz’s retirement from the military, “A National Guard article on his unit’s deployment states that it received alert orders to deploy to Iraq in July 2005, two months after Walz retired. The unit first mobilized in the fall of 2005 to Camp Shelby Mississippi to prepare for deployment, according to the unit’s history, and then deployed in March 2006 for 22 months, which the Guard said was the longest continuous deployment of any military unit during US operations in Iraq.”