Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz finally responded Tuesday to Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s allegations of “stolen valor” — with the Democratic vice presidential nominee saying that “I firmly believe you should never degenerate another person’s service record.”
Walz responded to his Republican counterpart while speaking to members of the AFSCME public-sector union in Los Angeles.
“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,” Walz added.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz responded to Sen. JD Vance’s “stolen valor” allegations. Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
Tim Walz served in the National Guard for 24 years but was not sent to war. Instagram / @timwalzWalz also criticized former President Donald Trump in his remarks, noting that Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris worked at a McDonald’s as a teen and asking, “Can you simply picture Donald Trump working at a McDonald’s trying to make a McFlurry or something?”
Walz, 60, served in the National Guard for 24 years and has admitted incorrectly saying on at least one occasion that he served in combat — as critics point to other instances in which he allegedly gave a misleading impression that he deployed to war.
“What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen valor garbage,” Vance said last Wednesday.
Vance, who deployed to the Iraq War for six months in 2005 while serving as a military journalist in the US Marine Corps, doubled down on his criticisms after Walz’s clap-back.
“Hi Tim, I thank you for your service,” the 40-year-old Republican vice presidential candidate posted on X in response to Walz’s speech on Tuesday.
“But you shouldn’t have lied about it,” Vance said. “You shouldn’t have said you went to war when you didn’t. Nor should you have said that you didn’t know your unit was going to Iraq.”
“Happy to discuss more in a debate,” he added.
Walz said that people “should never degenerate another person’s service record” after Vance said he stole valor. David Rodriguez Munoz / USA TODAY NETWORKIn 2018, Walz, who retired from the National Guard in May 2005, said in a pro-gun control speech that “we can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war.”
Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said Saturday that “the Governor misspoke.”
Here is the latest on VP pick Tim Walz’s time in the military
- National Guard vet claims Walz went above him to secure retirement: ‘He knew I would have told him, “Suck it up”’
- Tim Walz falsely claimed he carried weapons ‘in war’ in resurfaced clip: ‘Absolutely false’
- Tim Walz left National Guard battalion ‘hanging,’ ‘slithered out the door’ before Iraq deployment: vets
- Tim Walz a ‘coward’ and ‘traitor’ for retiring from military before Iraq, says Guardsman who replaced VP pick
Walz also drew criticism for speaking in 2021 about his “guilt” that he “came home” when others did not during a commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks — moments before mentioning his time at Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Base, without clarifying he was there as a civilian.
JD Vance deployed to Iraq in a non-combat role with the US Marine Corps.
Hitt said he “was referring to his congressional delegation trip in 2008” in that instance.
Walz has faced additional criticism from former colleagues for retiring shortly after a notice in March 2005 about a potential deployment to Iraq. He says he retired to run for Congress in 2006.
