Veterans in Congress are choosing sides in a battle over the military record of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), who was recently accused of “defamation” by Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance (Ohio).
“@JDVance and [former President] Will Trump stop disrespecting the men and women who serve our country with honor? Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a Marine Corps veteran, said: He said in a thread on the social platform. X on Thursday. “JD knows personally that enlisting doesn’t necessarily get you into combat. 90% of military personnel don’t serve in combat.”
Moulton It was later added to the thread He said he was “proud to have served alongside @Tim_Walz in Congress because of his commitment to being a true American patriot.”
Vice President Harris named Waltz as her running mate on Tuesday, and Waltz’s military background has fast become a point of contention among Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns and allies in Congress.
Both Vance and Waltz served in the military, with Waltz in the National Guard and Vance in the Marines.
Vance attacked Walz earlier this week, accusing him of “defamation” for leaving the military before his unit was even deployed.
“Tim Waltz, when did you go to war?” Vance said. “He 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.”
Vance’s comments Wednesday appeared to be in response to a video clip of Waltz posted to social media by the Harris campaign, in which Waltz speaks about gun control and says, “The weapons of war that I carried in war, I can only carry in war.”
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), a Navy veteran, blasted Walz. In X’s post Thursday.
“I proudly served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years, deployed multiple times to Afghanistan and Iraq, and retired as a Master Chief,” Gonzalez said in the post. “Yes, I am the highest ranking military officer to have served in Congress, something Governor Walz has falsely claimed. It is important to call out the dishonesty. Tim Walz should immediately withdraw his candidacy for vice president.”
Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, a former military veteran, has also joined the fray.
“Let me be clear: It’s not just bizarre, it’s downright disgraceful that your running mate disparages the service of veterans after he *checks notes* dodged the draft, called veterans ‘idiots’ and ‘losers,’ and refused to honor soldiers who died in World War I so he wouldn’t get wet in the rain,” says Crow, an Army veteran. X stated in a Thursday post.
His remarks were an apparent reference to former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee.
Meanwhile, other Republican lawmakers echoed Vance’s criticism of Walz.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) said Wednesday X reported, “Today is Purple Heart Day, and one of Harris’ running mates is a self-described combat veteran.”
“It’s horrible,” continued Luna, an Air Force veteran.
Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) is an Army veteran. stated in the post On Wednesday, Minnesota’s governor said he “abandoned his fellow soldiers shortly after deploying to Iraq.”
“He’s chosen Congress over combat,” Mast continued. “He has no right to be anywhere near commander in chief.”
But National Guard officials who served with Waltz said he decided to retire from the unit at a time when service members were unaware they might be deployed.
Rep. Mickey Sherrill (R-Minn.), a Navy veteran, on Thursday compared the attacks on Walz’s military record to the Swift Boat attack on former Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who ran for president in 2004.
“This is reminiscent of the Swift Boat fiasco that Senator Kerry faced during his election, and we have the same types of people trying to re-launch a similar smear campaign against a man who served in the National Guard for 24 years,” Sherrill said.
The Hill reached out to spokespeople for Vance, the Trump campaign and Harris’ campaign.
