Kamala Harris’ running mate Tim Walz has made a fierce defense of his military record as Republicans attack him for “stolen valor” and abandoning his National Guard unit before it was deployed to Iraq.
“I’m going to say it as clearly as I can. I’m very proud of the service I’ve given to this country,” Walz said.
“I firmly believe that one should never denigrate another’s service record. To anyone brave enough to put on that uniform for our great country, including my opponent, I have only a few simple words: thank you for your service and sacrifice.”
The Democratic vice presidential nominee has been under fire from Republicans since he joined Harris’ ticket for his comments about carrying a gun in war and even more so after leaving the service.
“I enlisted in the Army National Guard two days after my 17th birthday. I served for the next 24 years for the same reason as all my brothers and sisters in uniform. We love this country,” Walz said Tuesday.
“In 2005, I again felt the call of duty, this time to serve my country in the halls of Congress,” he continued, speaking of his experience as a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee.
Kamala Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, responded to criticism over his military record on Tuesday, saying he is “very proud” of his service and believes people should never denigrate another person’s service record.
Walz made the remarks during his first solo campaign stop since joining Harris’ ticket, when he delivered a speech at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) convention in Los Angeles.
His defense of his service record comes after Walz’s political opponent, JD Vance, attacked him on the campaign trail for his record in the National Guard in an attack reminiscent of those launched against John Kerry in 2004.
Walz retired from the National Guard in May 2005. At the time, his first congressional campaign was reported to be planning to run despite a possible deployment. Three months later, the Army issued the mobilization order for his unit, which was deployed to Iraq in 2006.
Vance told DailyMail.com last week it was “shameful” that Walz retired as his unit prepared to go to war.
“Your job as a senior soldier in a unit is to keep your people safe. It’s not a job you can just walk away from in a moment’s notice,” Vance, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years, said in an interview.
“So if he abandoned his troops before they went to Iraq or wherever… it’s absolutely shameful.”
Republicans accuse Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of taking a leave of absence from his National Guard unit in 2005 to begin his political career just before the unit was deployed to Iraq. He served 24 years after enlisting at age 17.
During his service, Walz also achieved the rank of command sergeant major, but because he did not complete the courses before his retirement, he retired as a sergeant major for benefits reasons.
The Minnesota governor has also been criticized for talking about carrying a weapon of war despite never having been deployed to a combat zone.
A clip released by Harris’ campaign included comments from Walz in 2018 speaking about gun control, where he said: “We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in the war, are the only place those weapons are.”
The campaign clarified that Walz “misspoke” when he mentioned the use of weapons “in war.”
Vance, who also served as U.S. attorney general, responded to Walz on Tuesday in X.
“Hi Tim. I appreciate your service, but you shouldn’t have lied about it. You shouldn’t have said you went to war when you didn’t. You also shouldn’t have said you didn’t know your unit was going to Iraq. I’d be happy to talk more about this in a debate,” Vance wrote.
Walz used his appearance at the AFSCME convention in Los Angeles to attack Donald Trump’s record as a businessman and as president.
Walz used his first solo appearance Tuesday to also address his service as a teacher, saying he was a teacher who paid his dues for years before an audience of members of the nation’s largest public service workers union.
“I’m the first union member on the presidential ticket since Ronald Reagan,” Walz told the crowd. “But rest assured, I won’t be missing.”
He touted Harris’s service as vice president before directing his ire at Donald Trump, who is taking on the role of attack dog in Harris’s campaign.
“You know, Vice President Harris grew up in a middle-class family and as a student she worked shifts at a McDonald’s,” Walz said. “I keep asking myself this for contrast. Can you imagine Donald Trump working at a McDonald’s trying to make a McFlurry or something?”
Walz joked that Trump couldn’t handle “that damn McFlurry machine” as the crowd laughed.
He also accused the former president of ripping off service sector workers for decades as a businessman and of cutting overtime benefits for millions of workers as president.
Walz will make several more stops across the country as part of his first solo fundraising drive this week after campaigning with Harris last week in battleground states.