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Harris Running Mate Walz Ripped Over Response To ‘Stolen Valor’ Question From CNN

By Updated: ELECTION 2024

The much-anticipated CNN interview with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz faced some challenges, despite the generally favorable setting for the Minnesota governor. Walz, who has faced scrutiny over misrepresentations of his military service and accusations of “stolen valor,” struggled under questioning from anchor Dana Bash about claims that he had carried a gun during wartime. Dubbed “Tampon Tim” by critics, Walz offered yet another unconvincing explanation in response to the allegations.

“I want to ask you a question about how you‘ve described your service in the National Guard,” Bash said. “You said that you carried weapons in war, but you have never deployed actually in a war zone, a campaign official said that you misspoke, did you?” Walz’s response was not a direct answer but rather a convoluted excuse. He deflected by invoking children and attempted to frame his misleading statements as simple grammatical errors.



“Well, first of all, I‘m incredibly proud, I’ve done 24 years of wearing the uniform of this country. Equally proud of my service in a public school classroom whether it‘s Congress or the governor, my record speaks for itself, but I think people are coming to get to know me. I speak like they do,” Walz began. “I speak candidly, I wear my emotions on my sleeves and I, speak especially passionately about about our children being shot in schools and around, and around guns. So I think people know me, they know who I am, they know where my heart is, and again, my record has been out there for over 40 years to be for itself.”

Bash persisted. “And the idea that you said that you were in war, did you misspeak as the campaign has said?” He responded: “I said we were talking about in this case, this was after a school shooting, the ideas of carrying these weapons of war, and my wife, the English teacher, told him, my grammar is not always correct.” He added: “But again, if it‘s not this, it‘s an attack on my children for showing love for me or it‘s an attack on my dog. I‘m not I‘m going to do that. And the one thing I‘ll never do is I‘ll never demean and other members’ service in any way. I never have, and I never will.”

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The governor was assailed on social media, including one user on X who pointed out that the ‘use of grammar’ excuse was particularly problematic because he was an English teacher in China. “Walz said his grammar is not always right. And yet he went to China to teach Chinese students English,” wrote defector Xi Van Fleet.

Walz is at the center of another controversy following a report earlier this month that his administration has effectively barred practicing Christians, Jews, and Muslims from teaching in public schools. New teacher licensing rules, set to take effect in July 2025, will require educators to affirm transgenderism and other culturally sensitive issues that may conflict with many religious beliefs.

The Federalist, a conservative news outlet, first reported the story, emphasizing the significant implications of these changes. Under Governor Walz’s administration, the new regulations mandate that teachers must create an environment that supports students’ identities, including their gender identity and sexual orientation, to obtain a teaching license. The policy affects both public schools and private schools that require state licenses for their educators, the outlet reported.

The outlet reported that the new rules could effectively “ban practicing Christians, Jews, and Muslims from teaching in public schools” due to conflicts with their religious beliefs. Teachers will be required to “affirm” students’ gender identities and sexual orientations, a mandate that religious educators argue forces them to compromise their faith. Additionally, universities that train future teachers will need to integrate these new standards into their programs or risk losing their ability to offer state licensing to their graduates, the report said.

According to the new standards, teachers must ensure that student identities, including race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation, are “historically and socially contextualized, affirmed, and incorporated into a learning environment where students are empowered to learn and contribute as their whole selves.” The mandate puts religious teachers in a tough spot, as affirming these identities may go against their core beliefs.

Doug Seaton, the founder and president of the nonprofit Upper Midwest Law Center, voiced strong concerns about the regulations. He emphasized that while some Christian universities in Minnesota may comply with the new rules, others are resistant to doing so. “Some are not willing to do it [file a lawsuit] until they actually have their college programs tagged for noncompliance or their graduates actually not licensed as a consequence of not adhering to these standards,” he told The Federalist.





Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.