Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor who has faced intense scrutiny for his military service, “misunderstood” in a 2018 video in which he spoke about handling weapons “in wartime,” a spokesman for Harris’ campaign said Friday.
“Governor Walz would never disparage or undermine Americans’ service to this country. In fact, he thanks Senator Vance for putting his life on the line for our country. That’s the American way,” a spokesperson for Harris’ campaign said in a statement to NBC News.
“The Governor has misled people when making the case for why weapons of war should not be on our streets or in our classrooms. The Governor has handled weapons of war and, unlike Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, who put the gun lobby over children, he firmly believes that only military personnel trained to carry these lethal weapons should have access to them,” the spokesman added.
I served as a Republican with Congressman Tim Walz. He would be a good Vice President.
Democratic vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz spoke during a campaign event on August 7. (Andrew Harnick)
Fox News Digital has reached out to Harris’ campaign and former President Trump’s campaign.
In 2018 Video Clip Walz is seen discussing gun control and referencing his military background.
“We can confirm that the weapons of war that I carried into war are stored only there,” Walz said in a video posted by the Harris campaign on Tuesday.
Republicans, led by vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance, have criticized Mr. Walz’s military service. Mr. Walz served in the National Guard for 24 years but never deployed to a combat zone. In 2003, he deployed with his unit to Vicenza, Italy, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the name of the war in Afghanistan.
He retired in 2005, just months before his unit was deployed to Iraq.
Vance, a Marine veteran who served in Iraq, accused Walz of “stealing his honor.”
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“Tim Waltz, I want to know when you went to war,” Vance said at an event in Michigan. “What weapons did you bring to that war? What bothers me about Tim Waltz is this stolen bullshit story. Stop pretending to be something you’re not.”
“If I were him, I would be ashamed to have lied about my military experience like he did,” he added.
