Kamala Harris’ campaign has been forced to admit that vice presidential nominee Tim Walz lied about having fought in a war, just days after the campaign inadvertently called attention to them to illustrate the Minnesota governor’s views on gun control.
During a political event in 2018, when he represented Minnesota in the House of Representatives, Walz referenced his 24 years in the Army National Guard and his experience as a hunter while showing his support for gun legislation such as background checks and restrictions on high-powered firearms.
“We can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in the war are the only place they are,” Walz said in the clip, which the Harris campaign shared on social media on Tuesday.
The Minnesota governor had been deployed after the 9/11 attacks as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, but never saw combat.
The claim drew the ire of some top Republicans, including former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, who accused Walz of “stolen valor.”
During a political event in 2018, Walz suggested he served in the war while showing support for gun legislation such as background checks and restrictions on high-powered firearms.
“What bothers me about Tim Walz is this stolen valor crap,” he said at a campaign event in Michigan this week. “Don’t pretend to be something you’re not.
“I would be ashamed if I were him and lied about my military service like he did.”
The Trump campaign also criticized Walz for his remarks.
“Tim Walz is a fraud who wants to ban firearms like the ones he claims to carry into war, except Tim Walz was never deployed to a combat zone and lied about his service record in the National Guard,” spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said. he told NBC News.
‘If Walz won’t tell voters the truth, we will: Like Kamala Harris, Tim Walz is a dangerously liberal extremist, and Harris and Walz’s California dream is every American’s nightmare.
Harris’ campaign now says the Minnesota governor simply made a mistake and did not try to lie to anyone about his military service.
Harris’ campaign now says the Minnesota governor simply made a mistake and did not try to lie to anyone about his military service.
“Governor Walz would never insult or undermine the service any American has given to this country; in fact, he thanks Senator Vance for risking his life for our country. It’s the American way,” Lauren Hitt, a spokeswoman for the Harris-Walz campaign, said in a statement Saturday.
‘In arguing that weapons of war should never be on our streets or in our classrooms, the governor was wrong.
‘He has handled weapons of war and firmly believes that only members trained to carry such lethal weapons should have access to them, unlike Donald Trump and JD Vance, who prioritize the gun lobby over our children.’
But Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung questioned: “Why doesn’t Tim Walz personally address his lies? Why does he need to send low-level spokespeople to clean up his own mess?”
Walz also faces scrutiny from Republicans who accuse him of leaving the Army National Guard two decades ago to avoid being deployed to Iraq.
Meanwhile, Walz also faces scrutiny from Republicans who accuse him of leaving the Army National Guard two decades ago to avoid being deployed to Iraq — claims made by two retired command sergeants major during Walz’s first campaign for governor in 2018.
Walz formally retired from the Minnesota National Guard in 2005 as he prepared to run for Congress.
Some Republican rumors suggest that he left his team to dedicate himself to the campaign.
In fact, as he prepared for his 2005 run for Congress, Walz’s campaign issued a statement saying he planned to run despite a possible deployment of Minnesota National Guard soldiers to Iraq.
According to the National Guard, he retired from service in May of that year and his unit was deployed in August.
There is no evidence that Walz planned his departure with the intention of avoiding deployment, but Vance has seized on the issue.
Walz formally retired from the Minnesota National Guard in 2005 as he prepared to run for Congress.
Walz has faced such attacks before, including during his 2022 re-election campaign when his Republican opponent questioned his decision to leave the service.
“When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He left the military and allowed his unit to go without him, a fact for which he has been aggressively criticized by many of the people he served with,” the vice presidential candidate said at a news conference Wednesday.
“I think it’s shameful to prepare your unit to go to Iraq, make a promise that you’re going to keep it, and then walk out just before you have to go.”
Walz has faced such attacks before, including during his 2022 re-election campaign when his Republican opponent questioned his decision to leave the service.
Walz’s campaign responded with a letter signed by 50 veterans praising his leadership on veterans issues in politics, a tactic the Harris campaign is now trying to replicate.
Some of the criticism has been compared to that faced by John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, when he ran for the nation’s highest office.
Harris’ campaign is trying to promote Walz’s efforts to help veterans as a politician.
Some of the criticism has been compared to that faced by John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, when he ran for the nation’s highest office.
Kerry, who was awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and, for wounds sustained in battle, three Purple Heart medals, drew the ire of many veterans for his anti-Vietnam War advocacy after returning home.
When he ran for president, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ran ads accusing him of lying about his service on 50-foot aluminum boats that performed dangerous missions in the waterways of South Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.
Some of the veterans featured in the ads even said they had won the prizes through false promises.
But the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board He said the comparisons between Walz and Kerry were “very different,” noting that Walz has repeatedly emphasized that he did not serve in combat.
During an interview with CNN last month, when anchor Jake Tapper said Walz was deployed to Afghanistan, Walz corrected him and said he served in Europe while the Iraq war was going on.
In a 2018 interview with Minnesota Public Radio, Walz also said of his military career: “I know there are certainly people who did a lot more than I did.”