Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio on Wednesday accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of dodging military service and misleading the public about his status as a veteran.
Vance made the remarks while answering a reporter’s question at a campaign rally in Detroit about Walz’s efforts to paint him as part of an elite group of people who attended Ivy League schools.
“Nobody in my family went to law school. I grew up poor. And the fact that Tim Walz is trying to turn that into a bad thing, the fact that I actually went to college and law school and accomplished something for myself, to me, that’s the American Dream. For Tim Walz to want to denigrate that, I think that’s pretty strange, frankly,” Vance said before launching his attack on Waltz.
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Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio on Wednesday accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of dodging military service and misleading the public about his status as a veteran. (Getty Images)
“As a Marine who served my country in uniform during my time in the United States Marine Corps, when the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did so. I followed their call and acted honorably,” he said. “When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, do you know what he did? He quit the military and let his unit go without him. This has been roundly condemned by many who served with him.”
“It would be shameful to prepare troops to go to Iraq, keep that commitment, and then withdraw them just before they are about to deploy,” Vance said.
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Vance also highlighted Governor Walz’s comments on gun control, saying the governor is trying to use his questionable military record to push for gun control.
Vance slammed Walz for invoking his military background when calling for stricter gun control laws. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
“He said, ‘The weapons I used in the war should not be left on the streets of America.’ Tim Waltz, when did you go to war, when was this, you abandoned your unit right before going to Iraq, you never spent a day in a combat zone, what weapons did you bring to the war? What bothers me about Tim Waltz is the stolen Valor trash,” Vance said.
Vance also called on reporters to hold Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris to account, who has not taken questions from reporters in the 17 days since President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Vance.
Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Vice President Doug Emhoff wave as they board Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrew in Maryland, August 6, 2024. (Brendan Smiarowski/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
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Former President Trump accused Harris of hiding behind a teleprompter while Biden was “hiding in his basement.”
