J.D. Vance has sharply criticized Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, accusing him of “stolen valor garbage” for leaving his military unit when a deployment to Iraq was announced. This issue has become a focal point in the presidential race.
In Detroit, Michigan, Vance, a Marine veteran, defended his own service, stating, “As a Marine who served his country in uniform when the United States Marine Corps, when the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it. I did what they asked me to do, and I did it honorably.”
Vance then challenged Walz’s record, questioning, “When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did?” He highlighted that Walz left the military, which meant his unit had to deploy without him. Vance noted that Walz faced significant criticism from those who served alongside him.
Vance continued, “I think it’s shameful to prepare your unit to go to Iraq, to make a promise that you’re going to follow through, and then to drop out right before you actually have to go.”
In his first campaign appearance alongside Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris the day before in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Walz shared on his X account, “My dad served in the army during the Korean war. With his encouragement, at 17, I joined the Army National Guard for 24 years,” noting that he graduated college with support from military benefits.
The New York Post had previously reported that Walz left the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery months after receiving notice of deployment to Iraq in 2005 to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, labeling him a “coward” and “traitor.”
Vance pointed out that Walz has leveraged his questionable military background to push for gun control.
Vance stated, “He said, ‘We shouldn’t allow weapons that I used in war to be on America’s streets.’ Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war? When was this? What was this weapon that you carried into war, given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq, and he has not spent a day in a combat zone?” He condemned Walz as “stolen valor garbage.”
Also, he rebutted Walz’s previous remarks that he studied at Yale and built a career with investments from Silicon Valley billionaires while criticizing that community in his bestselling book, Hillbilly Elegy.
Vance said he came from a family where no one had ever attended law school and grew up in poverty. He noted that while Walz wants to twist that into something negative, he worked hard throughout college and law school to achieve something. Vance emphasized that this is the American Dream, and he finds it quite bizarre that Walz would want to insult that.
Most Commented