Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), the 2024 Republican vice presidential nominee, doubled down on his criticism of Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) in a recent CNN interview, arguing that Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate “lied about his service for political gain.”
During the recent interview on CNN’s State of the Union, CNN host Dana Bash asked Vance about his criticism of Walz’s claims about his time in the Army National Guard. Vance explained that he has not criticized Walz’s service in the military, but instead has criticized the way the Democratic governor has “lied” about his military record.
“I honor his service, and I never criticized what Tim Walz did when he was in the military,” Vance told Bash. “I criticized his retirement decision. And most importantly, Dana, I criticized his lying about his own record.”
Last week, the Minnesota National Guard confirmed that Walz was demoted before his retirement as a master sergeant in 2005 “because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.” The Minnesota National Guard’s statement stands in contrast to the Minnesota governor’s past claims that he retired as a command sergeant major.
Vance previously criticized Walz as “absolutely shameful” for reportedly retiring from his National Guard battalion before the unit was deployed to Iraq.
READ MORE: Nat’l Guard confirms Harris’ VP was demoted
During the recent CNN interview, Vance said, “This is a guy who’s captured on video saying, ‘I carried a gun in war.’ He never went to war. This is a guy who’s been captured on video as other people say, ‘He’s an Afghanistan veteran,’ ‘He’s a veteran of a war’, nodding in agreement instead of saying, ‘No, no, no, I did serve my country, and I did it honorably, but I never went to a war zone.'”
“I’m not criticizing Tim Walz’s service,” Vance added. “I’m criticizing the fact that he lied about his service for political gain.”
Vance told Bash that while he was proud of many of the things he did during his own military service with the United States Marine Corps, he “never lied” or “overstated” his service in order to win an election. “I think that’s what Tim Walz did; that’s what I was criticizing,” Vance said. “And yes, I do think it’s scandalous behavior.”
