Tim Walz Has Perfect Takedown of J.D. Vance’s Pathetic Military Smear
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz handily shredded right-wing attacks over his military record.Speaking to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union convention in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Walz addressed the right-wing smears, such as those from J.D. Vance, who falsely accused Walz of ending his 24-year term in the Army to avoid being deployed to Iraq. Walz actually retired before his unit was alerted it would be deployed, so he could run for office.Vance, who served a single four-year enlistment in the public affairs section of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, and who, according to his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, was “lucky to escape any real fighting,” has accused Walz of “stolen valor.”But Walz didn’t buy into the blatant swiftboating. “And by the way, these guys are even attacking me for my record of service, and I just wanna say, I’m proud to have served my country, and I always will be,” Walz said to massive applause. Walz explained that he enlisted in the National Guard shortly after turning 17. When he was elected to Congress, he served on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, where Walz said he was a “champion for our men and women in uniform.”“I’m going to say it again, as clearly as I can: I am damn proud of my service to this country. And I firmly believe that 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,” he said.Walz on Swiftboating 2.0: "I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person's service record. 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." pic.twitter.com/iq7s1C6RQq— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 13, 2024Harris’s campaign acknowledged Saturday that Walz had misspoken during a 2018 rally when he claimed to have handled assault weapons “in war.” The campaign had posted a video of this remark, launching a barrage of attacks against Walz, who had never been deployed in a war zone. Walz has been falsely accused of leaving his unit to run for office only after he was alerted that the team would soon deploy to Iraq. Walz filed to run for Congress in February 2005, long before his unit was notified it could deploy to Iraq, according to CNN. According to the Minnesota National Guard, Walz retired from service in May 2005. Vance responded to Walz’s Tuesday remarks in a post on X. “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,” Vance wrote. “Nor should you have said that you didn’t know your unit was going to Iraq.”“Happy to discuss more in a debate,” wrote Vance, who absolutely lost it last week when a CNN anchor claimed Vance was wrong to make a meal of his own service record.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz handily shredded right-wing attacks over his military record.
Speaking to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union convention in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Walz addressed the right-wing smears, such as those from J.D. Vance, who falsely accused Walz of ending his 24-year term in the Army to avoid being deployed to Iraq. Walz actually retired before his unit was alerted it would be deployed, so he could run for office.
Vance, who served a single four-year enlistment in the public affairs section of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, and who, according to his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, was “lucky to escape any real fighting,” has accused Walz of “stolen valor.”
But Walz didn’t buy into the blatant swiftboating.
“And by the way, these guys are even attacking me for my record of service, and I just wanna say, I’m proud to have served my country, and I always will be,” Walz said to massive applause.
Walz explained that he enlisted in the National Guard shortly after turning 17. When he was elected to Congress, he served on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, where Walz said he was a “champion for our men and women in uniform.”
“I’m going to say it again, as clearly as I can: I am damn proud of my service to this country. And I firmly believe that 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,” he said.
Walz on Swiftboating 2.0: "I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person's service record. 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." pic.twitter.com/iq7s1C6RQq— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 13, 2024
Harris’s campaign acknowledged Saturday that Walz had misspoken during a 2018 rally when he claimed to have handled assault weapons “in war.” The campaign had posted a video of this remark, launching a barrage of attacks against Walz, who had never been deployed in a war zone.
Walz has been falsely accused of leaving his unit to run for office only after he was alerted that the team would soon deploy to Iraq. Walz filed to run for Congress in February 2005, long before his unit was notified it could deploy to Iraq, according to CNN. According to the Minnesota National Guard, Walz retired from service in May 2005.
Vance responded to Walz’s Tuesday remarks in a post on X. “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,” Vance wrote. “Nor should you have said that you didn’t know your unit was going to Iraq.”
“Happy to discuss more in a debate,” wrote Vance, who absolutely lost it last week when a CNN anchor claimed Vance was wrong to make a meal of his own service record.
