Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) on Sunday combined two common lines of attack against Vice President Harris and Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), accusing them of avoiding interviews and spreading misleading claims about Gov. Walz’s military record.
“I enjoyed sitting down with the three major networks today and answering the tough questions that every leader needs to answer,” Vance said. said in a social media post. After multiple appearances on Sunday morning news shows.
“Kamala Harris has been through as many tough interviews as Tim Walz has been deployed to war zones,” he said.
Since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris has largely avoided answering questions from the press, drawing criticism from conservatives and some journalists.
She said at the event last week that she would try to schedule a sit-down interview covering a wide range of topics “by the end of the month.”
Vance also fueled Republican anger over Walz’s military service. 24 years in the National GuardHe enlisted at age 17 and retired as a master sergeant in 2005, later becoming the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer to have served in Congress.
Republicans, including Vance, have falsely claimed that Walz retired in 2005 to avoid a deployment to Iraq, but Walz filed paperwork to run for Congress and retire from the National Guard a month before his unit was informed of his impending deployment to Iraq.
The attack has drawn misleading comparisons to the “Swift Boat” scandal in 2004, in which then-Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) attacked the military record of his presidential campaign.
Waltz never served in a combat zone during his time in the National Guard.
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.
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 attack also raised questions about former President Trump’s lack of military service, given that he had multiple health deferments to avoid the Vietnam War draft, which have since come under scrutiny.
