Ever since Kamala Harris announced him as her running mate, Tim Walz has been hit with accusations of stolen valor — not just from opponent J.D. Vance but from soldiers who worked with him in the Minnesota Army National Guard. You have to believe a lot of people who knew him are lying for his story to hold up. Did he deploy to Iraq? Afghanistan? It depends on whom and when you ask.
They've even put together a video of 16 times Walz claimed to have retired as a commander sergeant major, which he did not.
Tim Walz is guilty of stolen valor.
— NOVA Campaigns (@NoVA_Campaigns) August 13, 2024
From his 1st political campaign in 2006, watch @Tim_Walz falsely claim the retired rank of Command Sergeant Major, US Army … 16 times pic.twitter.com/dOr8dRfBWd
His bio on X still refers to him as a command sergeant major, and the always-helpful PolitiFact stepped in with a bogus fact-check on Walz's retirement from the Guard. This is after the Harris campaign put out a Friday night news dump that Walz "misspoke" when he implied he'd served in a combat role in the War on Terror.
Walz finally spoke up for himself at an event in front of the AFSCME union. He even pulled a clip from his speech and posted it to his account, giving what he thinks will be the final word on the topic.
Let me be clear: I am damn proud of my service to this country. pic.twitter.com/9a9rJSQurQ
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) August 13, 2024
Yeah, that's fine and all, but you lied about your rank and about being deployed to a combat zone.
People don’t lie about things they’re proud of.
— EducatëdHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) August 13, 2024
So proud of it that you've lied about it for 20 years.
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) August 14, 2024
You’re damn proud that you had others fooled for 18 years
— Sean Agnew (@seanagnew) August 13, 2024
Why are you proud of shit you didn’t do?
— 100 Proof 🥃 (@ChampionCapua) August 14, 2024
Then why do you keep lying about it?
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) August 13, 2024
Nobody is attacking your record of service. We're attacking you because you lied about your record of service. As a high school teacher, you should be able to spot the difference here.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) August 13, 2024
I'm proud of your service too. 24 years is a big deal. Thank you for that.
— Shawn Farash (@Shawn_Farash) August 13, 2024
But you lied about your service repeatedly and did it for political gain. You are guilty of Stolen Valor and you're ducking accountability.
We’re not criticizing your service, Tim.
— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) August 13, 2024
We’re criticizing that you misrepresented and lied about it for two decades.
That’s why this is happening.
Nobody is attacking you for your record of service, dummy.
— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) August 13, 2024
People are rightly attacking you for lying about your record of service.
It is stolen valor to lie about having been in combat. That is what you did.
You even admitted it. So quit gaslighting.
There seems to be a pretty consistent reaction here — Walz can be proud of his service, but not of lying about it, recalling "standing on the tarmac at Bagram Air Base in Iraq" (it's actually in Afghanistan).
So this is how Walz is going to play it. He's proud of his service. He's proud of Vance's service. So take it or leave it.
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