Appearing in a personal capacity on CNN’s “The Source” on Friday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg argued that Republican statements that 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), have exaggerated his title and falsely claimed to have carried weapons in war (the Harris-Walz campaign vindicated him by updating Waltz’s biography on his campaign website, saying he had falsely stated that he had carried weapons in war) show “how desperate the Republican Party is to not talk about this issue.”
“Republicans are attacking Governor Walz, who retired after 24 years of military service, and at times exaggerating his title and rank,” moderator Kaitlan Collins asked. “As a fellow veteran, you were careful about how you portrayed your service during the campaign. How do you respond to these attacks?”
Buttigieg responded, “I think this is an example of all they can do is destroy. In the military, you get out after 20 years. Tim Walz served 24 years, and some are trying to attack him because he didn’t serve 25 or 26 years. That’s not how most military and veterans talk about their own service or the service of others. … Saying someone’s time in the military is worthless because they didn’t deploy is a lot like saying someone’s life choices are worthless because they happen to not have children.”
Collins continued: “Well, one of the pieces that they support is the suggestion that he carried a weapon in war. They’ve made that clear. I recall a spokesman saying tonight that he misstated that. He previously identified himself as a retired command sergeant. He served in that position, rose to that rank, but didn’t complete the proper courses and so reverted to the rank of sergeant when he retired. Should he be careful about how he speaks about this, and exactly how he speaks about it, given the support that we’re hearing from Republicans?”
Buttigieg responded, “Absolutely, and they had an opportunity to make that point. But, again, I think this shows how much Republicans don’t want to talk about this issue. They don’t want to talk about proposed tax cuts for the wealthy. They don’t want to talk about a campaign to end women’s right to choose in this country. So they need us to quibble about the finer points, like what’s the difference between being conditionally promoted to master sergeant and not retiring at that rank versus retiring at that rank but still technically holding that rank. Those are the kinds of things they want us to talk about, because they don’t want us to talk about the fundamental issues.”
He continued, “You can say the same about the weapons that Tim Waltz actually carried, shot, trained with and used throughout his 24-year military career, right? So deep, so hard to find that one momentOf the millions of times he has spoken on this issue, he said “weapons carried in war” instead of “weapons of war” to keep us from thinking about what he was actually talking about at the time: that the weapons he trained on, assault weapons, military-type weapons, should not be in our neighborhoods or schools, and should not be threatening the lives of our children. This position, by the way, is one that most Americans agree with. But the last thing the Trump campaign wants to talk about is confronting and opposing 90% of Americans, including the vast majority of Republicans, who believe we should at least have universal background checks to protect our children and communities. They want us to talk about something other than their very unpopular agenda, and this is an example of that. So, of course, it’s important to clarify the times he made false statements, but we shouldn’t allow them to use it to distract us. [from] What does that actually affect you right now as you sit at home and hope that your kids are safe when they go to school? Of course, this is not a fine point of terminology.”
to follow Ian Hanchett’s Twitter Ian Hanchett
