“Listen, I praise anyone who has presented themselves to serve our country. And I think that we all should,” Kamala Harris said once and for all putting an end to the ‘stolen valor‘ controversy over her running mate Tim Walz. The controversy was triggered by Tim Walz’s rival, GOP VP candidate JD Vance who served in the military. He said Tim Walz did not go to any war and actually took retirement before his unit was deployed in Iraq and hence Valz’s claim to be in the military is ‘stolen valor’.
The controversy dominated the election narrative the whole of Thursday with the Democrats fact-checking JD Vance’s claim he opted out of the military service when his unit was to be deployed.
Tim Walz served 24 years in various units and jobs in the Army National Guard. He retired from service in May 2005 when he was up for his congressional bid. In August 2005, the unit that Walz was serving was asked to mobilize and in March 2006, it was deployed to Iraq. There is no evidence that Walz retired from the service to avoid deployment.
‘Weapons that I carried in war’
Another flashpoint between the Democrats and the Republicans was an old video where Tim Walz was heard talking about carrying weapons in war.
“He (Tim) says, ‘We shouldn’t allow weapons that I used in war to be on the American streets’. Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you even in war? What was this weapon that you carried into war given you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq? He has not spent a day in a combat zone. What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen valor garbage. Do not pretend to be something that you’re not,” JD Vance said.
Harris-Walz campaign said Walz carried, fired and trained others on how to use “weapons of war innumerable times”.
The controversy dominated the election narrative the whole of Thursday with the Democrats fact-checking JD Vance’s claim he opted out of the military service when his unit was to be deployed.
Tim Walz served 24 years in various units and jobs in the Army National Guard. He retired from service in May 2005 when he was up for his congressional bid. In August 2005, the unit that Walz was serving was asked to mobilize and in March 2006, it was deployed to Iraq. There is no evidence that Walz retired from the service to avoid deployment.
‘Weapons that I carried in war’
Another flashpoint between the Democrats and the Republicans was an old video where Tim Walz was heard talking about carrying weapons in war.
“He (Tim) says, ‘We shouldn’t allow weapons that I used in war to be on the American streets’. Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you even in war? What was this weapon that you carried into war given you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq? He has not spent a day in a combat zone. What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen valor garbage. Do not pretend to be something that you’re not,” JD Vance said.
Harris-Walz campaign said Walz carried, fired and trained others on how to use “weapons of war innumerable times”.
