Serial liar: Walz also falsely claimed he was deployed to war zones
The Minnesota governor ran for Congress as a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, but his service was just support in Norway and Italy and he never saw combat in his 24-year career.
Walz, during a rally with Kamala.
Tim Walz not only lied about his rank and his exit from the Army after learning his battalion was to be deployed to Iraq. The Democratic vice presidential candidate also falsely misrepresented that he had been to war, when he never participated in any conflict-zone mission, according to his military service record. An open debate in the wake of friendly fire, since it went viral after the Kamala campaign uploaded a video on its X account on gun control in which Walz is seen talking about his experience with weapons of war that, he claimed, "I carried in war":
Governor Tim_Walz : "I spent 25 years in the Army and I hunt. I’ve been voting for common sense legislation that protects the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks. We can research the impacts of gun violence. We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war."
Veterans refute Walz's claims: he never went into combat
Claims that were quickly refuted by Stolen Valor, an account specializing in chasing down lies about military careers, which made it clear that the closest he came to entering combat was when sent to Italy as support:
Walz claimed he was a veteran of 'Enduring Freedom' as early as 2005"
This is not an innocuous nuance. In another video, Sgt. and Iraq war veteran David Thul rebuked Walz's aides in 2009, when Walz was already a member of the House of Representatives, for presenting himself as a "veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom," because it led voters to believe he had been deployed to the Asian country after the 9/11 attacks.
Thul went to ask for explanations from Walz's staff after a photo of the congressman casually dressed in flip-flops and shorts surfaced, protesting George Bush whie carrying a sign that read "Enduring Freedom veterans for Kerry," implying that he himself had participated in the Afghanistan mission.
"Big difference between being deployed in Italy and being in a combat zone"
During his conversation with Walz's aides, Thul pointed out that "Operation Enduring Freedom is limited to Afghanistan and the airspace directly above it. Congressman Walz is clearly claiming … to be an Enduring Freedom veteran. Nobody disputes the fact that he is not an Afghanistan or Enduring Freedom veteran. So this represents a fairly serious issue. We appreciate his service and we appreciate his being deployed, but there’s a huge difference between being deployed to a base in Italy and being in a combat zone in Afghanistan." He then asked those present if that photo wouldn't make them "falsely assume that that means [Walz] served in Afghanistan," to which the aide replied, "Maybe, I guess...."
The sign was not the only occasion on which the Minnesota governor was, to say the least, ambiguous about his involvement in the conflict with the Taliban. In a letter from his congressional candidacy when the possibility of his battalion being sent to Iraq began to emerge, in which he assured that he did not plan to drop out of the race even if it was from there, he noted that he had already participated in deployments on several occasions "including eight months during Operation Enduring Freedom." In that missive, by the way, he said his duty was "not just to get my battalion ready for Iraq, but to serve, if called on. I am dedicated to serving my country to the best of my ability, whether in Washington D.C. or Iraq."
The Harris-Walz campaign sees no lie in the governor's claims
From the Kamala-Walz campaign, spokeswoman Lauren Hitt asserted that there was no inconsistency or falsehood, since "Governor Walz was deployed to Italy in support of Operation Enduring Freedom while serving in the National Guard."
After J.D. Vance joined the allegations about Walz's military career lies, the Democratic candidates' team issued a statement that sought to clarify that the Minnesota governor was referring in the video to his knowledge of weapons of war: "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."
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