JD Vance accuses Tim Walz of 'lying' about military service: 'Stolen valor garbage'

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of dodging his military service and misleading the country about his veteran status on Wednesday.

Vance made the statement while taking questions from reporters at a campaign rally in Detroit. A reporter asked Vance about Walz' attempt to frame him as a member of the elite who attended an Ivy League school.Yea

"I came from a family where nobody in my family had ever gone to law school. I grew up in a poor family. The fact that Tim Walz wants to turn it into a bad thing, that I actually worked myself through college, through law school and made something myself –  to me, that's the American dream. And if Tim Walz wants to insult it, I think that's frankly pretty bizarre," Vance said before launching into an attack on Walz.

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"As a marine who served his country in uniform when the United States Marine Corps, when the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it. I did what they asked me to do it, and I did it honorably," he said. "When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the army and allowed his unit to go without him, a fact that he's been criticized for aggressively by a lot of the people that he served with." 

Vance continued, "I think it's shameful to prepare your unit to go to Iraq, to make a promise that you're going to follow through, and then to drop out right before you actually have to go."

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Vance went on to highlight comments from Walz on gun control, saying the governor had used his questionable military history in an attempt to push gun restrictions.

"He said, 'We shouldn't allow weapons that I used in war to be on America's streets.' Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war? When was this? What was this weapon that you carried into war, given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq, and he has not spent a day in a combat zone? What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen Valor garbage," Vance said.

Vance also urged reporters to hold Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris accountable. Harris has not taken questions from the press in the 17 days since President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed her.

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Former President Trump has accused Harris of hiding behind her teleprompter even as Biden "hid in his basement."

Harris and Walz made unprecedented abortion clinic visit prior to presidential ticket team-up

Vice President Kamala Harris previously made history alongside her future 2024 running mate when she visited a Minnesota Planned Parenthood earlier this year – in what was seen as the first time a sitting U.S. vice president has ever visited an abortion provider. 

"I’m here at this health care clinic to uplift the work that is happening in Minnesota as an example of what true leadership looks like," Harris said from a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota in March. 

"The reason I’m here is because this is a health care crisis," she continued. "Part of this health care crisis is the clinics like this that have had to shut down and what that has meant to leave no options with any reasonable geographic area for so many women who need this essential care."

As Harris made history as the first sitting veep to visit an abortion clinic, her future 2024 running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, stood by her side in support. The chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood North Central States, Planned Parenthood’s regional president and CEO Ruth Richardson, and Rep. Betty McCollum also joined Harris at the clinic. 

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Harris continued in her remarks that Americans need not "abandon their faith" to support abortion. 

"One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree that the government should not be telling women what to do with their body," Harris said during remarks following a tour of the clinic.

"If she chooses, she will consult with her priest, her pastor, rabbi, her imam. But is that for the government to tell her what she can and cannot do with her own body?"

Conservatives and pro-lifers slammed Harris for the visit, saying it was the "normalization of evil."

"This is a historic ‘first,’ in the worst possible way. VP Kamala Harris is getting a private tour of a Planned Parenthood in Minnesota today. I'd bet that they'll show her everything except for an actual abortion," Students for Life of America president Kristan Hawkins posted to X at the time. 

She added: "PRO-LIFE GEN: If you’re in or near Minneapolis, join us TODAY to show we are NOT going to accept this evil or the promotion and normalization of evil. Expected location of Kamala Harris: Planned Parenthood on Vandalia St."

Following the visit to the abortion clinic, Walz told the media that "old white men" need to talk about abortion and reproductive health more. 

"I think old white men need to learn how to talk about this a little more," Walz told CNN at the time. "And I think the big thing is: Listen to women. Listen to what they’re saying. We’ve seen that when we listen to them, they’re speaking loudly, and they’re speaking at the ballot box."

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On Tuesday morning, Harris announced that she had chosen Walz to join her on the presidential ticket as her running mate, just weeks after President Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed his vice president to make a run for the office. Biden dropped out amid mounting concerns over his mental acuity and age, and he has vowed to finish out his term in the Oval Office. 

"I am proud to announce that I've asked @Tim_Walz to be my running mate. As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he's delivered for working families like his. It's great to have him on the team. Now let’s get to work," Harris announced on X Tuesday. 

Planned Parenthood lauded Harris for the choice in a press release, saying Walz and Harris Vice President Harris are "the most pro-reproductive freedom ticket in history." 

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"Gov. Walz is a longtime champion of sexual and reproductive health care and has been a fierce abortion rights champion as governor, helping to protect abortion rights in Minnesota," Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said. 

The press release also noted Walz "made history with Vice President Harris" just months ago in Minnesota.

"As Vice President, Harris visited a Planned Parenthood health center, making her the first vice president in history to do so — and Gov. Walz accompanied her on this historic visit," it read.