Sen. Jack Reed (R-Iowa) defended Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, accusing him of lying about his service in the National Guard and then leaving the force while preparing to deploy to Iraq.
Waltz submitted his retirement notice before his unit received formal orders to deploy to Iraq, but he had not received notice in advance. Possibility This is also evident from the press release on the matter issued by the congressional election campaign at the time.
“Do you think Governor Walz needs to clarify or explain or correct any statements he’s made about his military service or in past campaign statements?” CNN host Kate Bolduin asked Reid, who is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“I think Governor Walz has been very clear about his service as a member of the Minnesota National Guard, and I think what’s happening is Republicans have used anecdotal evidence to attack the record of someone who has served with distinction,” Reed said.
Waltz was not deployed to a combat zone.
“But they exaggerate and misinterpret a few things. First, he left the military long before his troops were warned to go to Iraq,” he continued. “He wasn’t avoiding Iraq. In fact, what he was doing was preparing to run for Congress to take on another public office, another public service duty, consistent with his entire life as a National Guardsman, a teacher and a community leader.”
Reid also compared the criticism Walz has received in recent days to the criticism John Kerry received during the 2004 presidential campaign over his service in the Vietnam War.
“I think this is a Republican tactic and it’s an insult to their campaign to try to insinuate that the governor is not a patriotic, dedicated and selfless servant in the military and in the Legislature,” Reed said.
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Another example of how Waltz gave a false impression of military service is Press conference in 2007Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced Waltz and said, “I want to thank him for his service in the field,” to which Waltz responded with thanks. Waltz never deployed to a combat zone and did not correct Pelosi when she said he was a master sergeant because he had not met the requirements to retain his rank when he retired early. C-SPAN then introduced Waltz as an “Afghanistan veteran.”
