Senator JD Vance’s unproven accusation that his Democratic counterpart, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, shirked his role in the Iraq War has not only earned him fact-checks, but also condemnation from veterans groups and former Vice President Mike Pence’s former chief of staff.
On Wednesday in Michigan, Vance claimed Walz had abandoned his unit. Walz served in his home state’s National Guard for 24 years and was stationed in Italy as part of the U.S. war in Afghanistan before retiring in 2005. He even claimed Walz had “stolen valor.” That attack was used against Walz in both his 2018 gubernatorial campaign and his 2022 campaign, which he won.
Several publications soon corrected the statement. As CNN noted, his former unit received the order to deploy two months after Walz resigned in 2005 to run for Congress. Still, right-wing commentators persisted in maintaining the baseless claim, as Media Matters for America pointed out.
The criticism of Walz’s record did not sit well with some veterans groups. VoteVets, a progressive veterans’ advocacy group, promptly fired back at Vance, a Marine who once served in Iraq for about six months.
“JD Vance attacking another veteran is dishonorable and has nothing to do with reality. This is a blatant, baseless and vile attack. Shame on him,” the group wrote on X, shortly followed by a graphic titled “Fiction versus Fact” that repeated what CNN and others had verified.
Marc Short, Pence’s former chief of staff, whose former post Vance now wants to take over, later shared this opinion.
Short, appearance on MSNBC José Díaz-Balart reports On Wednesday morning, he questioned the validity of Vance’s criticism.
“JD Vance served in the Marines. He has every right to launch this attack. But I think there’s been tremendous upheaval in all of this and in the polls in the last three weeks. But before Biden pulled out, the border and the economy were one of the biggest weak points for Democrats, and I think that’s still the case,” he said.
“I think unfortunately a lot of the Trump campaign continues to be personal, whether it’s questioning Kamala Harris’s background, this attack or, frankly, going to Georgia and deciding to attack a very popular Republican governor,” he continued.
“So I think Harris and Walz have tremendous weaknesses in their progressive positions, and I think a political attack would be more effective than the personal attacks that have been made.”
Vance’s claim that Walz had been “dishonest” about his service also sparked a reaction within the Harris-Walz campaign team.
“In his 24 years of service, the Governor has carried, fired and trained others in the use of weapons of war countless times,” a spokesman told CNN. “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’s the American way.”
