Republicans, including JD Vance, are sharpening their knives to take stabs at Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz now that he’s the official Democratic vice presidential nominee.
Vance accused Walz of dodging his military service and misleading the country about his veteran status. Vance made the statement while taking questions from reporters at a campaign rally in Detroit.
“Tim Walz, when were you ever in war? When was this? What was this weapon that you carried into war, given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq, and he has not spent a day in a combat zone? What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen valor garbage,” Vance said.
The accusations stem from a Facebook post by a pair of soldiers back in 2018 when Walz first ran for governor of Minnesota.
Walz left the National Guard in May 2005 after 24 years of service, according to Army Lt. Col. Ryan Rossman, director of operations for the Minnesota National Guard. His unit was not given deployment orders to Iraq until July. He had put his retirement papers in 5-7 months prior to his retirement that May.
Walz has also faced scrutiny about whether he served in Operation Enduring Freedom. His battalion was sent to Europe, in his case to Vicenza, Italy to train units in artillery. Personnel deployed overseas in support of OEF are considered by the National Guard to have officially served in OEF, regardless of whether they set foot in Afghanistan or not.
Our team at FOX 9 Minneapolis spoke with Master Sgt. Thomas Eustice served with and under Walz for many years in the Guard. He says the governor was a good leader and a good soldier. He feels like the attacks on Walz’s service are out of bounds and coming from people still bitter about losing promotions to the future VP candidate.
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