At issue is the specifics of either man’s years in the armed forces, a topic that was quickly ignited between their camps this week after the vice presidential matchup was set.
Vance, who served in the Marines, took the opening shot on Wednesday at Walz, who served 24 years in the National Guard. The Republican presidential nominee accused his Democratic rival of “stolen valor” for leaving service before a deployment to Iraq and claiming he served in a war.
“I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war?” Vance said at a campaign stop in Michigan. “He has not spent a day in a combat zone. … I’d be ashamed if I was him and I lied about my military service like he did.”
Vance appeared to be referring to a clip of Walz, which the Harris campaign shared on social media, in which the governor says while speaking about gun control, “We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war.”
Walz has not served in combat. The Hill has reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign for comment. Supporters of Walz have pointed out that Vance admitted in his memoir that he never saw real combat either, and that Walz has never misrepresented his rank.
Jacob Thomas, communications director and a spokesperson for the progressive veterans’ group Common Defense, said it was “weird and desperate” to attack a fellow veterans’ military record.
“That just doesn’t seem like a winning message,” he said. “We don’t need to spend this time hitting each other on things that don’t matter. We all served. And like I said, frankly, it just reeks of desperation.”
Walz and Vance stand out as veterans on national tickets; the first since the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) ran for president in 2008. Former President Trump famously avoided the draft during the Vietnam war after being diagnosed with bone spurs, and Vice President Harris did not serve in the military.
Either man will be the first veteran to serve as president or vice president since President George W. Bush, a former lieutenant in the Texas Air National Guard.
For Harris and Trump, choosing a veteran with a notable military record was likely a factor in selecting their vice-presidential candidates.
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
