Harris Campaign Unable to Address Stolen Valor Accusations Plaguing Tim Walz

The Harris 2024 campaign was unable to explain why Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) falsely claimed to be “in war,” or address any of the stolen valor accusations plaguing new Democrat vice presidential nominee for the past two days.

Since Vice President Kamala Harris (D) unveiled Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, Walz has been dogged by false claims he has made throughout his political career that misrepresent his military career.

Walz served for 24 years in the Army National Guard, but never deployed to war or in combat. He retired as a master sergeant in 2005, shortly before his unit deployed to Iraq.

However, he has claimed on multiple occasions that he is a retired sergeant major — a higher rank than he ultimately achieved, and has falsely suggested he went to war.

He repeated that false suggestion in a video clip put out by the Harris campaign itself. In the video clip, Walz claims he carried weapons “in war.”

He also falsely claimed in the video he served 25 years, when he actually served 24 years and one month.

There are also accusations by veterans who served with Walz that he — as the top enlisted soldier in his unit — abandoned them right as they were preparing to deploy to Iraq at the peak of the war.

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), when asked Wednesday at a press conference about an attack on him by Walz, fired back at the governor:

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. And I’m very proud of that service. When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him, a fact that he’s been criticized for aggressively by a lot of the people that he served with. 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.

When asked about Vance’s comments, the White House dodged the claims entirely, with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre only saying that Walz enlisted and 17 and served for 24 years.

“This is someone who enlisted at 17 years old to serve his country. He was part of the Army National Guard for 24 years. This is someone who was a high school teacher, a high school coach, as well, who grew up in a small town in the Midwest, and, so, I think his bio speaks for itself, who he is speaks for itself, his record speaks for itself, and I’m just not going to say anything beyond that,” she said.

Walz himself ignored a question about his military record on Wednesday.

And when the Harris-Walz campaign responded on Wednesday to the Washington Post about the his claims, it offered no explanations as to why Walz falsely claimed to be a retired sergeant major, or have been in “war.”

Instead, the campaign sidestepped the his false claims altogether and reportedly told the Post that Walz “carried, fired and trained others” how to use “weapons of war innumerable times,” and “declined to address why Walz claimed incorrectly to have done so in war.”

The campaign also tried to cast aspersion Vance (R-OH), the Republican vice presidential nominee by saying, “Governor Walz would never insult or undermine any American’s service to this country — in fact, he thanks Senator Vance for putting his life on the line for our country.”

The controversy has only grown in recent days, with even CNN commentators acknowledging that Walz has not been honest about his military record.

“Absolutely false,” one commentator said.

Harris’s vetting of Walz as her running mate is now increasingly coming under question.

Vetting for Harris’s vice presidential pick was reportedly done by Eric Holder, who served as the attorney general under former President Barack Obama.

Reuters, who broke the news of Holder’s involvement, wrote: “His involvement in the vetting process may reassure Democrats that a longtime political and legal hand is helping to ensure Harris’ pick, should she win the nomination, is free of major conflicts.”

The Associated Press called Harris’s process to choose a running mate as “whirlwind” and a “16-day blitz.”

“By the end, the process offered a preview of how Harris might fare under the pressures of the Oval Office,” the AP said.

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