Tim Walz laced into his vice-presidential opponent JD Vance on Tuesday over claims he lied about his military service in a full-throated defense of his record.
Kamala Harris’ Democratic running mate has been accused by Vance and other Republicans of lying that he did not know he was about to be deployed to Iraq when he retired from the National Guard after 24 years in uniform, and of saying that he carried a gun “in war.”
But in his first solo appearance on the campaign trail, at a union event in Los Angeles, Walz hit back, making clear that he is willing to make the issue a central part of his expected debate with Vance, which has still to be scheduled.
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“These guys are even attacking me for my record of service, and I just want to say, I’m proud to have served my country, and I always will be,” Walz said. “With my dad’s encouragement, a guy who served in the Army during the Korean War, I signed up for the Army National Guard two days after my seventeenth birthday. I served for the next 24 years for the same reason all my brothers and sisters in uniform do: We love this country.”
Speaking at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees’ convention, he recounted how his students inspired him to run for Congress in 2006 and how he championed service members on the Veterans’ Affairs committee.
“I’m gonna say it again as clearly as I can, I am damn proud of my service to this country,” Walz added. “And I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person’s service record. To anyone brave enough to put on that uniform for our great country, including my opponent, I just have a few simple words: Thank you for your service and sacrifice.”
JD Vance wasted no time jumping in the ring with his Democratic opponent reupping claims that Walz "lied" about his service record.
Walz has faced criticism from former battalion members, some of whom have called him a “traitor” for retiring from the National Guard to run for Congress. They, along with his Republican opponents, have suggested he did not earn the rank of retired command sergeant major because he left the National Guard before completing all necessary requirements. The Harris-Walz campaign made a change to his biography last week that seemed to support that claim. The campaign also cleaned up comments Walz made about using weapons “in war.”
Other veterans who served with Walz think he made the right choice and say his detractors may simply have an ax to grind.
While Walz steered clear of Marine vet JD Vance’s military record on Tuesday, he had some other choice words for his Republican counterpart, suggesting he didn’t know if Vance was “a value add” on the ticket.
“He’s one of four senators, four, that has never cast a vote on a pro-worker bill in his life, not once,” Walz exclaimed.
Walz also got in digs at Donald Trump, calling him a “scab” and saying the former president couldn’t hack it at McDonald’s, where Kamala Harris picked up shifts as a student.
“Can you simply picture Donald Trump working at a McDonalds trying to make a McFlurry or something?” Walz asked as the crowd booed. “He knows this. He couldn’t run that damn McFlurry machine if it cost him anything.”
