Vice President Harris’ campaign acknowledged on Friday that running mate Gov. Tim Walz made “false statements” about his military service, amid growing accusations of defamation against him.
“Governor Walz would never disparage or undermine Americans’ 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,” the Harris campaign said in a statement to NBC News on Friday.
“The Governor has misled people when making the case for why weapons of war should not be on our streets or in our classrooms. The Governor has handled weapons of war and strongly believes that only military personnel trained to carry those lethal weapons should touch them. Unlike Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, who put the gun lobby over children.”
Walz had been under pressure to disclose his military history since a 2018 video surfaced in which he boasted about his National Guard service as a reason for stricter gun control.
“We can be sure that the weapons of war that I carried into the war are stored there and only there,” Walz said in a video posted to Harris’ Campaign X account on Tuesday.
Walz served in the National Guard for 24 years but never saw combat and infamously left just before being deployed to Iraq, but he said he was leaving to run for Congress.
Walz has also come under fire from veterans for exaggerating his rank: The two-term Minnesota governor long described himself as a retired master sergeant, when that was false and he was demoted to sergeant major upon retirement.
Sen. J.D. Vance, former President Donald Trump’s running mate, is trying to exploit the issue.
“What bothers me about Tim Waltz is this rubbish story of stolen heroism. Don’t pretend to be something you’re not,” the Marine Corps veteran said. “If I were him and I lied about my military service like he did, I’d be embarrassed.”
