Ohio Senator JD Vance doubled down on his claim that Tim Walz was dishonest about his military service record, accusing the Minnesota governor of having “lied” about going to war and what he knew about his unit’s upcoming deployment to Iraq in 2005.
The Republican vice-presidential contender made the comments about his Democratic counterpart on Tuesday after Walz said he was “damn proud of my service to this country” during an address to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union convention in Los Angeles.
A number of prominent Republicans, including Vance, have challenged Walz over claims he made about his 24-year service in the Army National Guard, which he joined aged 17 and resigned from in 2005 immediately prior to running for Congress.
Speaking in Los Angeles on Tuesday Walz said: “I am damn proud of my service to this country, and I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person’s service record. 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.”
Later that day, Vance shared a video of Walz’s remarks on X adding: “Hi Tim, I thank you for your service. But you shouldn’t have lied about it. 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.”
Hi Tim, I thank you for your service.
But you shouldn’t have lied about it. 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. https://t.co/6vUlF9dBkJ
— JD Vance (@JDVance) August 13, 2024
Newsweek contacted Walz and Vance for comment by email on Wednesday outside of regular office hours.
During a 2018 campaign event while discussing his support for an assault rifle ban, Walz referred to the guns as “weapons of war, that I carried in war.” While he did deploy to Italy in 2003 in support of American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, Walz never saw service in a war zone.
In a statement provided to CNN on August 10, Harris campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said Walz “misspoke” in those remarks.
She said: “In making the case for why weapons of war should never be on our streets or in our classrooms, the governor misspoke. He did handle weapons of war and believes strongly that only military members trained to carry those deadly weapons should have access to them, unlike Donald Trump and JD Vance who prioritize the gun lobby over our children.”
Vance served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years, before leaving to attend Ohio State University in 2007. During this time he was deployed to Iraq for six months as a combat correspondent, between August 2005 and February 2006.
In May 2005, Walz left the Minnesota National Guard to run for Congress, which the Guard told Fox News took place between five and seven months after he submitted his retirement papers.
Walz’s battalion was informed that it could be deployed to Iraq within two years in March 2005, according to a statement published that month by his congressional campaign. It was later sent to Iraq in July 2005 following Walz’s retirement.
Speaking earlier this month Vance said: “When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, do you know what he did? He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him…I think it’s shameful.”
In an interview with NewsNation, Al Bonnifield, who spent 22 years in the Minnesota National Guard, claimed Walz didn’t know for certain that his unit would be deployed to Iraq when he handed in his resignation papers.
Referring to Walz, Bonnifield said: “He told us that he wanted to run for Congress, and he was in a tough spot, because he was pretty sure we were going to Iraq. We didn’t have orders. We didn’t have any kind of orders at all.”
A Big Village Caravan survey of 1,009 Americans, which took place between August 9 and 11, found Walz had a positive favorability rating of four against minus three for Vance.
