Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday defended Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz against attacks on his service record, calling it a “sign of the bankruptcy of their ideas” for Republicans who accuse him of “stolen valor.”
“They don’t have anything to say, so they make up things,” Pelosi told MSNBC’s Jen Psaki. “They are just trying to confuse things, but he came to Congress and was respected by our colleagues. Elected to be the top Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee, where he … made historic advances for veterans, meeting their needs, more than had been done since the G.I. Bill during World War II.”
Soon after Vice President Kamala Harris tapped Walz as her running mate, Republicans resurfaced claims that Walz, who served for 24 years in the National Guard before retiring in 2005 to run for Congress, had inflated his military credentials. Walz has faced similar attacks from opponents during his previous races for the governorship and the House, where he became the most senior enlisted soldier to serve in Congress.
The Trump campaign and in particular, Ohio Sen. JD Vance — who deployed to Iraq as a combat correspondent in the Marines but did not experience combat — has latched onto scrutiny of Walz’s Army record, claiming the Democratic vice presidential contender retired to avoid deployment to Iraq. Walz retired months before his unit was issued a mobilization order — a fact that Pelosi emphasized.
When asked how the Harris-Walz campaign should respond to criticisms of Walz’s record in the military, Pelosi advised: “Just dismiss it.”
“If people lie, as they are lying, and you hear the lie enough times, it sort of becomes kind of accepted in their group, and so you have to say ‘No, that didn’t happen,’” Pelosi said. “The reality has to be driven home. I’m not one to let their misrepresentations persist.”
“He has been a consistent patriotic courageous American,” she added.
Harris’ presidential campaign did update its online biography of Walz amid questions about his military service and axed a reference to Walz as a “retired command sergeant major,” POLITICO reported. Instead, it now says he once served as a command sergeant major.
It’s a small change that reflects Walz’s true rank at retirement from the National Guard. He reverted back to the rank of master sergeant when he left the military because he had not completed the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy’s required coursework for the higher rank.
Harris campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt also told CNN that Walz misspoke when he in 2018 referred to weapons “that I carried in war” while expressing support for an assault weapons ban — remarks that were featured in a clip shared by the campaign last week. Walz did not serve in a combat zone, but Hitt said he has handled weapons of war.
Earlier Sunday, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who sits on the Armed Services Committee and served nearly five years on active duty in the Army, told “Fox News Sunday” that he respects Walz’s service but pointed to “past inconsistent statements about his service.”
Comments
Post a Comment