Rep. Miki Sherrill (D-Minn.) on Thursday said the attacks on Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) over his military service reminded her of the infamous Swift Boat attack on former Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) when he was running for president in 2004.
Sherrill told CNN’s Caitlin Collins that she felt compelled to speak out because the military’s accusations against Waltz, who served in the Army National Guard for more than 20 years, were “deeply disturbing.”
“This is reminiscent of the Swift Boat fiasco that Senator Kerry faced during his election. We have the same types of people trying to re-launch the same type of smear campaign against a man who served in the National Guard for 24 years.” She said Thursday.
Sherrill, a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot, also defended Waltz’s record. Post to XShe called the attacks on his military record “disgraceful” but said it was “the usual divisive spectacle” by former President Trump.
The Swift Boat controversy was a defining feature of the 2004 presidential election between Kerry and George W. Bush.
A group known as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth raised doubts about Mr. Kelly’s military record, which drew widespread attention, and is seen as one of the deciding factors in Mr. Kelly’s defeat, although nearly all of the veterans who served with Mr. Kelly have disputed the claims in the ad.
The driving force behind the Swift Voter movement was Chris LaCivita, who now serves as a campaign adviser to former President Trump.
“Swiftvote Veterans for Truth’s claims have never been disproven,” LaCivita wrote online on Wednesday. Matthew Dowd, a former strategist for the Bush-Cheney campaign, said: It was disproved. He called the 2004 attack “almost entirely a lie.”
Walz, who was named Harris’ running mate earlier this week, has been criticized for leaving the military before the troops were deployed, but subordinates who served under him say his decision was made before he knew the orders to deploy.
Waltz has also been criticized for allegedly inflating his rank when he retired and for claiming to have carried weapons in war when he never actually saw combat.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), the Republican vice presidential nominee and a military veteran himself, criticized Walz’s record on Wednesday.
“Tim Walz, when have you been in a war?” Vance said while campaigning in Michigan. “He’s never spent a day in a combat zone. … I would be embarrassed if I were him and I lied about my military service like he did.”
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), one of Harris’s leading running mates, defended Walz on X, saying he had forgotten what the Marines taught him about respect.
” [former President] “Donald Trump. He calls veterans idiots and losers but he’s no worse than those of us who actually served,” Kelly wrote.
Sherrill said the accusations against Walz were “really disgusting.”
“I just want him to be proud of his time and his service because he’s been in public service his whole life,” she said. “And it’s the usual cliché, they’re like a one-trick horse with people in public service.”
