Walz says his military record ‘speaks for itself’ in CNN interview

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz shrugged off an accusation that he misstated his military record when asked about it alongside Vice President Kamala Harris in the first major sit-down interview of their campaign for the White House.

CNN’s Dana Bash asked Walz about remarks in 2018, when he was running for Congress, and he said he “carried a weapon of war in war” as he discussed his support for restricting assault weapons.

Walz, who served 24 years in the National Guard but was not in combat, says he misspoke — chalking it up to garbling some words.

“My grammar is not always correct,” he said.

The Republican criticism was part of a broader effort to tarnish Walz soon after he emerged as Harris’ running mate. But the effect of the accusation has been muted, in part because former President Donald Trump made well-known efforts to dodge military service, and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, served four years in the Marine Corps and was deployed to Iraq but did not have combat experience.

Walz said in the CNN interview that his military record “speaks for itself” as he dismissed the criticism.

“I'm incredibly proud I've done 24 years of wearing the uniform of this country, equally proud of my service in a public school classroom, whether it's Congress or the governor,” he said. “My record speaks for itself. I speak candidly. I wear my emotions on my sleeves, and I speak especially passionately about our children being shot in schools and around guns.”

The Minnesota governor was dismissive of other attacks, including by Republican media figures on his son — whose tearful applause for his father was one of the more emotional moments at the Democratic National Convention.

“If it's not this, it's an attack on my children for showing love for me, or it's an attack on my dog,” Walz said. “I'm not going to do that. And the one thing I'll never do is I'll never demean another member's service in any way. I never have and I never will.”