Kamala Harris’ running mate Tim Walz fiercely defended his military record as Republicans attacked him, accusing him of “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 damn proud of my service to this country,” Walz said.
“And I firmly believe that you should never belittle another person’s record. To all those brave enough to put on that uniform for our great country, including my opponent, I have a few simple words: Thank you for your service and sacrifice.”
The Democratic vice presidential nominee has come under fire from Republicans since joining Harris for his statements on bearing arms in wartime and after he left the military.
“I enlisted in the Army National Guard two days after my 17th birthday. I served for the next 24 years for the same reason all my brothers and sisters in uniform did. We love this country,” Walz said Tuesday.
“Then in 2005, I felt the call of duty again, this time to serve my country in the halls of Congress,” he continued, saying he was a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee.
Kamala Harris’ running mate, Governor Tim Walz, responded Tuesday to criticism of his military record by saying he is “damn proud” of his service and that people should never belittle another person’s service record.
Walz made the comments during his first solo campaign since joining Harris, when he spoke at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) convention in Los Angeles.
His defense of his service comes after Walz’s political opponent J.D. Vance attacked him during the campaign for his National Guard record, echoing attacks on John Kerry in 2004.
Walz retired from the National Guard in May 2005. At the time, his first congressional campaign said he planned to run despite a possible mobilization. Three months later, the Army issued the mobilization order for his unit, which deployed to Iraq in 2006.
Vance told DailyMail.com last week that it was “disgraceful” that Walz was retiring while his unit was preparing for war.
“Your job as the senior enlisted guy in a unit is to keep your people safe. That’s not a job you can just walk away from,” Vance, who served four years in the U.S. Marines, said in an interview.
“So if he abandoned his troops before they went to Iraq or wherever … absolutely outrageous.”
Republicans accuse Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of skipping his National Guard unit in 2005 to launch his political career just before it 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 his studies before retirement, he retired as a sergeant major to qualify for benefits.
The Minnesota governor has also been criticized for talking about carrying a weapon of war, despite never having deployed to a war zone.
A clip posted by Harris’ campaign featured comments Walz made in 2018 about gun control, in which he said, “We can make sure that the guns that I carried during the war are the only place those guns are.”
The campaign made it clear that Walz “defeated himself” when he said he used weapons “in a time of war.”
Vance, who also served as a U.S. senator, responded to X on Walz on Tuesday.
“Hi Tim, thank you for your service. But you shouldn’t have lied about it. You shouldn’t have said you were going to war when you weren’t. And you shouldn’t have said you didn’t know your unit was going to Iraq. More on this in a debate, please,” Vance wrote.
Walz used his appearance at the AFSCME convention in Los Angeles to criticize Donald Trump’s record as a businessman and as president
Walz also used his speech about his work as a teacher during his first solo performance on Tuesday, saying that he had paid dues for years as a teacher before an audience of members of the nation’s largest public-sector workers’ union.
“I happen to be the first union member on a presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan,” Walz told the crowd. “But rest assured, I won’t get lost.”
He praised Harris’ service as vice president before directing his ire at Donald Trump, who took on the role of attack dog in Harris’ campaign.
“You know, Vice President Harris grew up in a middle-class family, and he worked at that McDonald’s as a student,” Walz said. “I keep asking this to create a contrast here. Can you imagine Donald Trump just working at a McDonald’s and trying to make a McFlurry or something?”
Walz joked that Trump couldn’t “operate that damn McFlurry machine,” as the audience laughed.
He also accused the former president of having mistreated service providers for decades as a businessman and of having cut overtime for millions of workers as president.
Walz will continue to crisscross the country this week as part of his first solo fundraising effort, after campaigning with Harris last week in states where the chances of success remain uncertain.