Sen. JD Vance fired back at CNN after an anchor suggested he embellished his own military service as the Republican vice presidential nominee hammered his Democratic rival over his record.
Vance (R-Ohio), who served as a US Marine in Iraq, has taken aim at Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as questions have been swirling over how he represented his military service since he was tapped by Vice President Kamala Harris as her running mate.
But, according to CNN’s Brianna Keilar, Vance “may be an imperfect messenger” on the issue.
“Because we have, as you introduced him, as a combat correspondent, which is what [Vance’s] title was,” Keilar told her CNN colleague Dana Bash on Thursday. “But when you dig a little deeper into that, he was a public affairs specialist, someone who did not see combat, which certainly the title ‘combat correspondent’ kind of gives you a different impression. So he may be the imperfect messenger on that.”
Vance knocked Keilar and CNN on social media.
“Brianna this is disgusting, and you and your entire network should be ashamed of yourselves,” Vance wrote on X. “When I got the call to go to Iraq, I went. Tim Walz said he carried a gun in a war. Did he? No. It was a lie.”
Vance told reporters Wednesday, “I served in a combat zone. I never said that I saw a firefight myself, but I’ve always told the truth about my Marine Corps service. That’s the difference.”
CNN did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Critics have put a spotlight on an old video incidentally shared by the Harris campaign of Walz pushing for gun control, telling voters, “We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.”
Here is the latest on VP pick Tim Walz’s time in the military
- National Guard vet claims Walz went above him to secure retirement: ‘He knew I would have told him, “Suck it up”’
- Tim Walz falsely claimed he carried weapons ‘in war’ in resurfaced clip: ‘Absolutely false’
- Tim Walz left National Guard battalion ‘hanging,’ ‘slithered out the door’ before Iraq deployment: vets
- Tim Walz a ‘coward’ and ‘traitor’ for retiring from military before Iraq, says Guardsman who replaced VP pick
Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Behrends, who said he was a member of Walz’s battalion, blasted the governor’s comments.
“To most people, that would mean that he was actually in combat, carrying a weapon in a combat zone and getting combat pay and in a dangerous and hostile environment where he is getting shot at,” Behrends told “The Ingraham Angle” on Wednesday.
A CNN correspondent even fact-checked Walz on Wednesday, declaring that “there is no evidence” he carried weapons in combat as the vice presidential candidate appeared to previously imply.
Brianna this is disgusting, and you and your entire network should be ashamed of yourselves.
When I got the call to go to Iraq, I went.
Tim Walz said he carried a gun in a war. Did he? No. It was a lie. https://t.co/kt0oxzZb83
— JD Vance (@JDVance) August 8, 2024
Walz was never in an active war zone. He mobilized with the Minnesota National Guard to Italy on Aug. 3, 2003, to support Operation Enduring Freedom, according to the Minnesota Guard. The battalion supported security missions at various locations in Europe and Turkey, according to the Guard, and Walz was stationed in Vicenza, Italy, until returning to Minnesota in 2004. He did not deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan.
Vance’s opponent has been at the center of a brewing controversy since he joined the Democratic ticket. Walz, who served in the Minnesota National Guard for 24 years, repeatedly referred to himself as a “retired command sergeant major,” which is not accurate. According to the Minnesota National Guard, while Walz served as a command sergeant major, “He retired as a Master Sergeant in 2005 for benefit purposes because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.”
On Thursday, the Harris campaign changed the language in Walz’s bio on its website after the dust-up. The biography initially said Walz was a “retired Command Sergeant Major,” but was updated to say he “served as a command sergeant major.”
Walz has also faced criticism over the timing of his retirement from military service over allegations that he did so earlier than he planned to dodge deployment to Iraq.
Tom Schilling, a veteran who served in the same battalion as Walz, said he “ditched” his soldiers before they were deployed to Iraq in 2005.
“We all did what we were supposed to do, we did the right thing,” Schilling said on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” Wednesday. “It’s dishonorable what he did. He left somebody else up to take over his spot. He just ditched us.”
The Harris campaign released a statement saying, “In his 24 years of service, the Governor carried, fired and trained others to use weapons of war innumerable times. 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. It’s the American way.”
Fox News’ Alexa Moutevelis, Jennifer Griffin and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
