CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday pursued Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) for attacking Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) on his military record in the context of questions about former President Trump’s Vietnam War draft evasion.
Vance and other Republicans have repeatedly questioned Walz’s National Guard service, saying he Retired in 2005 after 24 years of service To avoid deployment to Iraq, Waltz retired that same year to run for Congress.
Bash pushed back against those attacks, questioning Trump’s lack of military service, which came under scrutiny after he received multiple medical deferments to avoid the Vietnam War draft.
“Donald Trump did not serve in the military. He received a draft deferment to treat bone spurs to avoid serving in the Vietnam War, which was reportedly a favor to his father,” she asked Vance. “Do you feel ashamed of that?”
“I don’t think Donald Trump served in the military, but he didn’t lie about that,” Vance said. “Dana, I’ve known Donald Trump for a long time. Do you think he doesn’t respect or has respected my military service?”
“Donald Trump didn’t lie about his military service,” he continued. “He didn’t say he went to Vietnam, but he didn’t. And that’s the issue.”
“I don’t criticize anyone for serving their country or not. I think it’s an honor to serve,” he added. “But obviously there are a lot of people who have reasons for not serving. I criticize people who lie and embellish their records and say they went to war, they went to war. Do I think it’s a problem that he said he went to war and he didn’t? Actually, it seems like a problem to me.”
Waltz was deployed to Italy in 2003 to support U.S. troops in Iraq, but he never deployed to a combat zone himself.
Vance also served in the military, deploying to Iraq as a Marine Corps public affairs officer as part of a four-year tour of duty.
The attacks on Walz have drawn misleading comparisons to the “Swift Boat” scandal, in which then-Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) was attacked for his military record during his 2004 presidential campaign.
The Harris campaign had previously denounced the attacks on Walz’s military record.
“Governor Walz retired from the military in 2005 after 24 years of service before running for Congress, where he served as VA secretary and was a tireless advocate for our military members. And as Vice President of the United States, he will continue to work tirelessly on behalf of veterans and military families,” his campaign told The Associated Press last week.
