Tim Walz on JD Vance: ready for debate
Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz campaigned with Kamala Harris on Tuesday – and said he was looking forward to the debate with JD Vance.
Fox – 2 Detroit
WASHINGTON — Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz’s service in the Army National Guard has become an immediate target of Republican Donald Trump’s campaign. His running mate JD Vance, also a veteran, attacked Walz’s departure from the military before his battalion deployed to Iraq.
Walz, governor of Minnesota and former congressman, joined the National Guard on April 8, 1981 at the age of 17 after graduating from high school and served until May 16, 2005. Walz stated that he left the Guard to run for Congress, which he did in 2006.
The alert order for Walz’s unit to mobilize for Iraq was received on July 14, 2005 – nearly two months after Walz’s retirement – and the unit was mobilized on October 12, 2005, according to the Minnesota National Guard.
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Vance addressed Walz’s departure from the military on Wednesday during a campaign appearance in Shelby Township, Michigan, comparing their military records. Vance joined the Marines in 2003 and served as a combat correspondent — or military journalist — until 2007. In late 2005, Vance was deployed to Iraq for six months to work in public relations.
“When the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did. I did what they asked of me, and I did it honorably, and I’m very proud of that service,” Vance said. “When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He left the Army and let his unit go without him.”
Vance added: “What bothers me about Tim Walz is the ‘stolen bravery’ nonsense. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not.”
Vice President Kamala named Walz as her running mate on Tuesday. The campaign highlighted Walz’s background as a working-class Midwesterner and his military service.
Vance’s attacks have been compared to the unproven “Swift Boat” allegations against Democrat John Kerry during the 2004 presidential campaign. The group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth questioned Kerry’s award-winning Vietnam War record. Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, led the Swift Boat campaign that attacked Kerry in 2004.
Vance was referring to previous comments by Walz in support of gun control, shared by the Harris campaign on social media on Tuesday, in which the governor said, “We can make sure that the only weapons left are the ones I carried in war.”
“I’m wondering, Tim Walz, when have you ever been to war?” Vance said Wednesday. “What was that weapon you took to war, considering you deserted your unit just before they deployed to Iraq?”
In a statement to USA TODAY, Harris campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa reiterated that Walz resigned from office in 2005 to run for Congress, where he later chaired the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
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In response to Vance’s statement that Walz never carried a weapon in war, Moussa said, “In his 24 years of service, the Governor has carried, fired and trained others in the use of weapons of war countless times. Governor Walz would never insult or belittle any American’s service to this country – in fact, he thanks Senator Vance for risking his life for our country. That is the American way.”
Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois – a Trump critic, Harris supporter and Air National Guard veteran – also rejected Vance’s criticism.
“JD served honorably, but he didn’t kick down doors. He was in public relations. Which again is fine and honorable. Tim retired after he was able to retire. That’s what people do,” Kinzinger wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “If it was a real problem, they would have put a ‘stop loss’ on him and prevented him from retiring.”
A stop loss is an involuntary extension of a person’s employment enforced by the Department of Defense.
“If JD Vance wants to attack Tim Walz, I would recommend that he use his own military training and his own military experience,” said Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Harris surrogate and also a military veteran. “Don’t start by attacking someone who raised his hand to serve this country.”
Although Walz was promoted to Command Sergeant Major, he retired as a Master Sergeant in 2005 for retirement reasons because he had not completed additional courses at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.
“You are being promoted to sergeant major because you have a proven record of looking after the needs of your people,” Moore said.
Walz was mobilized with the Minnesota National Guard on August 3, 2003, to support Operation Enduring Freedom, whose primary mission was the war in Afghanistan but which also played a counterterrorism role in other regions.
His 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery supported security missions in Europe and Turkey, according to a statement from Lt. Col. Kristen Auge, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota National Guard.
During his deployment, Walz was stationed in Vicenza, Italy, and returned to Minnesota in April 2004, Auge said. Walz began his service with the Nebraska National Guard and finished it with the Minnesota National Guard.
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Walz’s Republican opponents in Minnesota have criticized his departure from the military in the past, including during his runs for governor in 2018 and 2022.
In a 2018 open letter, Thomas Behrends, a veteran of the Minnesota National Guard, accused Walz of spreading “embellished and selectively omitted facts” about his military service. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that Behrends was passed over for the promotion to command sergeant major, which went to Walz, and described him as a “longtime critic of the governor.”
Retired Major General Randy Manner, who held high positions in the National Guard Bureau, called the controversy fabricated. Walz submitted his retirement papers long before his unit was notified of mobilization for deployment. Processing the retirement papers submitted by Walz takes five to nine months, said Manner, who does not know Walz but plans to vote for the Harris-Walz list.
“The idea that a man who has served his country honorably for 24 years would walk away because he left the National Guard in his 40s to move on to the next phase of his life is an insult to him and to all others who have also served their country so honorably,” Manner said.
That same year, Walz admitted in an interview with Minnesota Public Radio that he had never participated in combat.
“I know there are certainly people who have done a lot more than I have. I know that,” Walz said in 2018. “I’m happy to admit that I got a lot more from the military than they got from me, from the GI Bill to leadership opportunities to everything else.”
Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.
