The first U.S. Army Green Beret elected to Congress is pushing back against Democratic-led accusations that former President Donald Trump doesn’t care about military members and veterans.
“I’ve seen him firsthand. I don’t care what the press out there is. I’ve seen with my own eyes how much this man cares about people who are willing to give their lives for our flag,” Florida Republican Rep. Mike Walz told Fox News Digital.
Walz, who heads the Veterans for Trump Coalition, was in Chicago on Wednesday to attend a Republican campaign news conference on the rival program for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week.
He was quick to blast Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, for discrepancies he has uncovered about his military record since joining the national campaign.
JD Vance slams Harris’ latest rant: “The power of diplomacy matters”
Former President Donald Trump has come under fire from Democrats for his comments about veterans. (Photo: Peter Zai/AFP via Getty Images)
Democrats, meanwhile, accuse Trump of not caring about the military and its soldiers. Critics often cite former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly’s recollection of Trump dismissing dead soldiers as “losers” (a charge Trump denies), as well as a more recent statement by Trump that the Presidential Medal of Freedom is “much better” than the Medal of Honor because “everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor. These are soldiers. They’ve been shot multiple times and are in bad shape or are dead.”
Asked about Trump’s comments, Waltz said, “Put all the rhetoric and nonsense aside and look at the results.”
“The most important bill for veterans, the VA MISSION Act, commonly known as Veterans Choice, was passed under President Trump, which allows veterans to simply go to their local doctor and file a claim if their hospital treatment takes too long — if the VA isn’t giving them the care they need. This was actually implemented under him,” Walz said.
Kali Lake criticizes Harris on border: Walz is the only VP candidate she endorses
Rep. Mike Waltz is the first Army Green Beret elected to Congress. (Mike Waltz)
“Secondly, I was with a Gold Star family, President Trump. I was with a Gold Star family at Abbey Gate when he said, ‘Bring them on. I want to spend time with them,’ after Biden wouldn’t even meet with them. He was supposed to spend an hour. He ended up spending the whole night with them. He made them laugh, he made them cry, and he made them dance in a way that only Trump can.”
The VA MISSION Act passed Congress in 2018 with overwhelming bipartisan support, passing the Senate by a vote of 92-5.
The bill was supported by 116 Democrats and 231 Republicans in the House, with only 70 Democrats voting against it.
Former Waltz Battalion leader releases scathing message about Governor’s military record: Report
Republicans criticized vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz’s military record. (Reuters/Mike Seeger)
Click here to get the FOX News app
Notably, one of the lawmakers who opposed the bill was then-Rep. Tim Walz, who was the only member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee to vote against it, according to The Hill.
Walz said in a statement that he did not take the opposition “lightly,” but argued that he was also concerned that “without strong leadership, this bill will give the Trump Administration the excuse it needs to gradually privatize the VA if it is required to cut funding for care provided at VA hospitals and to cut funding for badly needed construction and maintenance.”
