Kamala Harris’ campaign was forced to admit that vice presidential candidate Tim Walz lied about participating in a war, just days after the campaign inadvertently drew attention to his false statements.
Walz referenced his 24 years in the Army National Guard at a 2018 political event, indicating that he supports gun control legislation such as background checks and restrictions on high-powered firearms.
“We can make sure that the weapons that I carried during the war are the only place those weapons are,” Walz said in the clip, which was filmed while he was representing Minnesota in the House of Representatives.
The Harris Campaign shared the images on social media on Tuesday in an attempt to illustrate the Minnesota governor’s views on gun control.
The Minnesota governor deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom after the September 11 attacks, but never saw combat.
At a 2018 political event, Walz suggested he had served in the war as he voiced support for gun control legislation such as background checks and restrictions on high-powered firearms.
The allegation drew the ire of some prominent Republicans, including former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, who accused Walz of “stolen valor.”
“What bothers me about Tim Walz is this stolen courage nonsense,” he said this week at a campaign rally in Michigan. “Don’t pretend to be something you’re not.
“I would be ashamed if I were in his place and I lied about my military service, just like he did.”
A Trump deputy also lashed out at Walz over the claims.
“Tim Walz is a fraud who wants to ban firearms like the ones he claimed to carry in war — except Tim Walz has never deployed to a war zone and has lied about his National Guard service history,” spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said. told NBC News.
‘If Walz won’t tell voters the truth, we will: Like Kamala Harris, Tim Walz is a dangerous left-wing extremist, and the Harris-Walz dream of California is every American’s nightmare.’
According to Harris’ campaign, the Minnesota governor simply misspoke and did not try to lie to anyone about his military service.
Harris’ campaign now claims the Minnesota governor simply misspoke and did not try to lie to anyone about his military service
“Governor Walz would never insult or undermine an American in his service to this country — in fact, he thanks Senator Vance for putting his life on the line for our country. That’s the American way,” Lauren Hitt, a spokeswoman for the Harris-Walz campaign, said in a statement Saturday.
“When the governor argued that there should never be weapons of war on the streets or in the classrooms, he was wrong.
“He has indeed handled weapons of war and believes strongly that only members trained to carry such deadly weapons should have access to them, unlike Donald Trump and JD Vance, who put the gun lobby ahead of our children.”
But Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung asked: “Why won’t Tim Walz address his own lies? Why does he have to send lowly spokespeople to clean up his own mess.”
Walz also faces scrutiny from Republicans who accuse him of deserting the Army National Guard two decades ago to avoid being deployed to Iraq.
Meanwhile, Walz is also being criticized by Republicans who accuse him of leaving the Army National Guard two decades ago to avoid being deployed to Iraq. The allegations were made by two retired sergeant majors during Walz’s first campaign for governor in 2018.
Walz officially retired from the Minnesota National Guard in 2005 while preparing to run for Congress.
Some Republican snowfall suggests he has abandoned his team to continue the campaign.
As Walz prepared to run for Congress in 2005, his campaign team issued a statement indicating that he planned to run despite the possible mobilization of Minnesota National Guard soldiers to Iraq.
According to the National Guard, he retired in May of that year and his unit deployed in August.
There is no evidence that Walz planned his departure with the intention of avoiding deployment, but Vance has taken up the issue.
Walz officially retired from the Minnesota National Guard in 2005 as he prepared to run for Congress
Walz has faced such attacks before, including during his 2022 re-election campaign, when his Republican opponent questioned his decision to leave the service.
“When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, do you know what he did? He quit the military and let his unit go without him — a fact for which he has been aggressively criticized by many of the people he served with,” the vice presidential nominee said at a news conference on Wednesday.
“I find it shameful to prepare your unit to go to Iraq, make a promise that you will keep that promise, and then bail just before you are actually supposed to go.”
Walz has faced such attacks before, including during his 2022 re-election campaign, when his Republican opponent questioned his decision to leave the service.
Walz’s campaign responded with a letter signed by 50 veterans praising his leadership on veterans’ issues in politics, a tactic Harris’s campaign is now trying to replicate.
Some of the criticism has been compared to that faced by John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, when he ran for the nation’s highest office.
Harris’ campaign is trying to promote Walz’s efforts to help veterans as a politician
Some of the criticism has drawn comparisons to the criticism John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, faced when he ran for the nation’s highest office.
Kerry — who was awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and, for wounds sustained in combat, three Purple Heart medals — drew the ire of many veterans for his advocacy against the Vietnam War after he returned home.
When he ran for president, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth placed ads accusing him of lying about his service on 50-foot aluminum vessels conducting dangerous missions in the waterways of South Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.
Some veterans featured in the advertisements even claimed that he had won the prizes under false pretenses.
But the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board has said the comparisons between Walz and Kerry are “very different.” He said Walz has repeatedly stressed that he did not serve in combat.
During an interview with CNN last month, in which host Jake Tapper said Walz had been deployed to Afghanistan, Walz corrected him and said he had served in Europe when the Iraq war was going on.
In a 2018 interview with Minnesota Public Radio, Walz also said of his military career, “I know there are certainly people who have done a lot more than I have.”
