Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz defended his military record Tuesday amid attacks from Republicans led by his election rival, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, who has accused him of stolen valor.
"I am damn proud of my service to this country," Walz, the governor of Minnesota, said in Los Angeles during his first solo event on the campaign trail.
Walz said he served in the National Guard for 24 years “for the same reason all my brothers and sisters in uniform do: We love this country.”
He also addressed his GOP critics head-on in remarks at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Convention.
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“These guys have — are even attacking me for my record of service,” Walz said. “And I just want to say I’m proud to serve my country, and I always will be.”
“I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person’s service record,” he said. “To anyone brave enough to put on that uniform for our great country, including my opponent, I just have a few simple words: Thank you for your service and sacrifice.”
Republicans have attacked Walz over his military record, with Vance, a Marine Corps veteran, accusing him of lying about his service.
The criticism over Walz’s military service swirled after Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign posted a video clip of Walz discussing gun control and referring to his own military background in 2018. “We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at,” Walz says in the clip.
An open letter published on Wednesday and signed by more than 1,000 veterans and military family members bashed Vance and Trump's "disrespectful" attacks on Walz’s military record.
Vance last week asserted that Walz had misrepresented his military record in those remarks.
“I’d be ashamed if I was him and I lied about my military service like he did,” Vance said at the time.
A Harris campaign spokesperson clarified that Walz “misspoke” in the video when he discussed his handling of weapons “in war.”
Walz's 24 years in the military included serving overseas and supporting forward units, but he was not deployed to a combat zone. He formally retired from the Minnesota National Guard in 2005 as he prepared to run for Congress. He won a House seat the next year.
Walz said Tuesday that he was encouraged to enlist by his father, who served in the Army during the Korean War, and that he signed up for the Army National Guard two days after his 17th birthday.
He is holding several events without Harris this week after numerous campaign stops with her in battleground states last week.
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