Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz on Tuesday defended his military record against Republican attacks, saying he is proud of his service to the country.
During a campaign event in Los Angeles, Walz addressed the accusations launched by his GOP critics, specifically Marine Corps veteran and Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance, who alleged that Walz lied about his military service.
“I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person’s service record,” he said. “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 and sacrifice.”
“I spent 25 years in the Army, and I hunt. I’ve been voting for common sense legislation that protects the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks. We can research the impacts of gun violence. We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war.”
Although Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard, he was not deployed to a war zone. Vance accused Walz of misrepresenting his military record and portraying himself as a combat veteran.
“In making the case for why weapons of war should never be on our streets or in our classrooms, the Governor misspoke,” Hitt said, adding that Walz would never insult or undermine any American’s service to the country.
“He did handle weapons of war and believes strongly that only military members trained to carry those deadly weapons should have access to them,” she said, in reference to his position on gun rights.
Walz formally retired from the Minnesota National Guard as he prepared his bid for Congress in 2005. The next year, he won a seat in the House of Representatives. His unit received a mobilization order in August 2005, and it deployed to Iraq in March 2006. Republicans and several veterans have accused Walz of timing his departure from the National Guard to avoid deployment abroad.
Walz defended his record during his first solo campaign event without Kamala Harris. The pair continues to rally supporters on the campaign trail ahead of next week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
