Hello everyone! In the world of politics, sparks are flying as Senator J.D. Vance took aim at Kamala Harris’s running mate, Governor Tim Walz. On Wednesday, Vance criticized Walz amid reports that the Minnesota governor had avoided deployment to Iraq with the Minnesota National Guard.
Vance didn’t hold back, declaring, “So if he abandoned his troops before they went to Iraq or wherever… absolutely shameful.” This fierce comment came after Harris announced Walz as her vice-presidential pick on Tuesday, followed by their appearance at a campaign rally in Philadelphia.
However, Walz’s past quickly resurfaced, with allegations from his former National Guard colleagues accusing him of betrayal. Retired Command Sergeant Major Thomas Behrends of the Minnesota National Guard claimed Walz had “embellished” his military record and abandoned his unit just before they were set to deploy to Iraq.
Behrends wrote on Facebook back in 2018, “In early 2005, a warning order was issued to the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion, which included the position he was serving in, to prepare to be mobilized for active duty for a deployment to Iraq. On May 16th, 2005, he quit, betraying his country, leaving the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its Soldiers hanging; without its senior Non-Commissioned Officer, as the battalion prepared for war.”
As Vance was heading to Michigan for a campaign event, he didn’t shy away from commenting on the controversy. He emphasized his focus on Harris’s policy shortcomings on immigration, energy, and manufacturing but couldn’t hide his astonishment that the Harris campaign hadn’t vetted Walz’s military record thoroughly.
Vance questioned, “There was a clip the Kamala campaign posted about him where he’s making a gun control argument. He said, ‘Look, you should not be able to carry the weapons that I carried in war.’ And I’m thinking to myself, well, when did you go to war? What weapon did you carry in the war, Tim, because apparently you skipped out on your unit before they went to Iraq. I know he didn’t go to a combat zone, so why is he lying to make a political point?”
Adding fuel to the fire, Minnesota politician and top Harris supporter Tina Smith made a controversial comment on Jim Acosta’s show. She highlighted that Walz enlisted at 17, then claimed Vance never served. Jim Acosta was trying to keep a straight face and seemed to wince when he corrected her.
Top Harris surrogate @TinaSmithMN: I’m not aware of any military service that @JDVance has ever served.
(JD Vance served in the U.S. Marine Corps and deployed to Iraq) pic.twitter.com/h5YeBNDz0T
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 7, 2024
