Vice President Kamala Harris had nothing but “praise” for her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, on Thursday when asked about his service with the National Guard.
Harris, 59, was asked by reporters to comment on criticism that Waltz “abandoned his unit and his comrades” when he chose to retire from the Minnesota National Guard in May 2005 as his battalion was preparing to deploy to the Iraq war zone.
“Listen, I admire anyone who volunteers to serve our country.” Harris said“And I think we all should.”
Walz, 60, served in the Minnesota National Guard for 24 years before retiring to run for Congress in the state’s 1st Congressional District, defeating Republican incumbent Gil Gutknecht. Walz made his opposition to the Iraq War a central feature of his campaign.
The Minnesota governor enlisted in the National Guard after graduating from high school and served with the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery until his retirement.
Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance on Wednesday accused Walz of exaggerating his own military record.
“He said weapons that I used in war should not be left on the streets of America,” Vance said in Michigan. “Tim Waltz, when were you in a war?”
“What bothers me about Tim Waltz is all the bullshit about stolen tales of heroism. Don’t pretend to be something you’re not,” added Vance, a Marine Corps veteran.
Vance referred to recently resurfaced 2018 footage of Waltz in which he argued, “We can study the effects of gun violence. The weapons of war that I carried in war can be made to be carried only in war.”
The Harris-Walz campaign on Thursday removed another contentious claim about the governor’s military history — that Walz retired as a master sergeant — from the governor’s official biography on the campaign’s website.
Waltz was discharged as a sergeant major because he had not completed the necessary coursework to achieve the rank of master sergeant.
President Biden also expressed praise for Walz on Thursday in Wilmington, Delaware, telling a former campaign staffer, “When you get to know him, you know he’s the real deal.” According to CNN:.
