Former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, responded sharply to a CNN host after she implied he had exaggerated his military service. Vance, a former U.S. Marine who served in Iraq, has been critical of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz regarding discrepancies in his military record since Walz was selected as Vice President Harris’s running mate. According to CNN’s Brianna Keilar, Vance “may be an imperfect messenger” on the issue.
“Because we have, as you introduced him, as a combat correspondent, which is what [Vance’s] title was,” Keilar told her CNN colleague Dana Bash Thursday. “But when you dig a little deeper into that, he was a public affairs specialist, someone who did not see combat, which certainly the title ‘combat correspondent,’ kind of gives you a different impression. So he may be the imperfect messenger on that.”
Vance knocked Keilar and CNN on social media. “Brianna this is disgusting, and you and your entire network should be ashamed of yourselves,” he wrote on X. “When I got the call to go to Iraq, I went. Tim Walz said he carried a gun in a war. Did he? No. It was a lie.” Vance told reporters Wednesday, “I served in a combat zone. I never said that I saw a firefight myself, but I’ve always told the truth about my Marine Corps service. That’s the difference.”
Brianna this is disgusting, and you and your entire network should be ashamed of yourselves.
When I got the call to go to Iraq, I went.
Tim Walz said he carried a gun in a war. Did he? No. It was a lie. https://t.co/kt0oxzZb83
— JD Vance (@JDVance) August 8, 2024
Critics have put a spotlight on an old video incidentally shared by the Harris campaign of Walz pushing for gun control, telling voters, “We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.” Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Behrends, who said he was a member of Walz’s battalion and was tapped to take the role of command Sergeant Major after Walz suddenly retired right before the unit deployed to Iraq, blasted the governor’s comments.
“To most people, that would mean that he was actually in combat, carrying a weapon in a combat zone and getting combat pay and in a dangerous and hostile environment where he is getting shot at,” Behrends told the ‘Ingraham Angle’ on Wednesday. A CNN correspondent even fact-checked Walz on Wednesday, declaring that “there is no evidence” he carried weapons in combat as the vice presidential candidate appeared to previously imply, Fox News noted.
The outlet added:
Walz was never in an active war zone. He mobilized with the Minnesota National Guard to Italy on Aug. 3, 2003, to support Operation Enduring Freedom, according to the Minnesota Guard. The battalion supported security missions at various locations in Europe and Turkey, according to the Guard, and Walz was stationed in Vicenza, Italy, until returning to Minnesota in 2004. He did not deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan.
Vance’s opponent has been at the center of a brewing controversy since he joined the Democratic ticket. Walz, who served in the Minnesota National Guard for 24 years, repeatedly referred to himself as a “retired command sergeant major,” which is not accurate. According to the Minnesota National Guard, while Walz served as command sergeant major, “He retired as a Master Sergeant in 2005 for benefit purposes because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.”
On Thursday, the Harris campaign revised Walz’s biography on their website following the controversy. The original description stated that Walz was a “retired Command Sergeant Major,” but it was updated to reflect that he “served as a command sergeant major.”
Walz has also come under fire regarding the timing of his military retirement, with allegations suggesting he left service earlier than planned to avoid a deployment to Iraq. Tom Schilling, a veteran who served in the same battalion as Walz, claimed that Walz “ditched” his soldiers before their 2005 deployment to Iraq; the Pentagon typically issues “warning orders” to units informing them they are being tapped to deploy at least a year or more in advance.
“We all did what we were supposed to do, we did the right thing,” Schilling said on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” Wednesday. “It’s dishonorable what he did. He left somebody else up to take over his spot. He just ditched us.”
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.