Friday, August 9, 2024

Tim Walz’s ‘Stolen Valor’ Fiasco Is Quickly Becoming a Disqualifying Spectacle

Tim Walz’s ‘Stolen Valor’ Fiasco Is Quickly Becoming a Disqualifying Spectacle

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa
AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Who oversaw the vetting for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz because this is a disqualifying disaster? It’s one of the risks when you have a do-over candidacy. Reportedly, former Attorney General Eric Holder quarterbacked this effort, but the issue surrounding Walz’s military service isn’t going away, as multiple lies have been uncovered. Either the Democrats knew and didn’t care, or they didn’t know, but it’s irrelevant. Either outcome is inexcusable.

It goes beyond the initial story, which was bad enough: Walz bolted from the National Guard in 2005, just before his unit was about to deploy to Iraq. He did this to run for Congress. Then, he claimed he was a veteran of the Afghanistan War, which was a lie, said he deployed to Iraq, another lie, and later claimed he held a rank which he did not have upon retirement. There’s even a video from 2009 of a veteran confronting Walz on this matter. It's an issue big enough for The Washington Post to devote a piece on Mr. Walz’s military record: 

 Tim Walz was weighing a life-altering decision when he stepped into a supply room at the National Guard Armory in New Ulm, Minn., nearly two decades ago. He closed the door behind him, recalled a colleague, Al Bonnifield, and confided he was considering whether to leave their unit even though it was preparing to go to war so he could run for Congress. 

[…] 

…while Walz and his political allies have cited his 24 years of military experience as an asset, the circumstances of his departure from the National Guard and his characterization of his service already have come under attack. At least three former Guard colleagues have publicly voiced bitterness at Walz’s decision to leave their unit at such a consequential moment. It’s not clear how widespread that feeling was, but the Trump campaign has moved quickly to capitalize on the issue. 

“Nobody wants to go to war. I didn’t want to go, but I went,” Doug Julin, a retired National Guard soldier who worked with Walz, said in an interview. “The big frustration was that he let his troops down.” 

[…]

On Wednesday, Walz also came under scrutiny for saying during a gubernatorial campaign event in 2018 that “we can make sure those weapons of war that I carried in war” are not on America’s streets. Walz did not serve in combat, according to the Minnesota Army National Guard, and his Republican counterpart jumped on those comments. 

[…] 

Walz and his political allies also have inaccurately described him as a retired command sergeant major, one rank higher than he holds in retirement. Walz himself did so in a video clip from 2006 that was surfaced by C-SPAN on Tuesday and in a 2018 clip posted on his own YouTube account. 

[…] 

“I’m a retired sergeant major in the Army and the Army National Guard,” he told a group of voters in the latter video. 

Though Walz did achieve the rank of command sergeant major, it was a provisional rank until he completed required coursework for senior leaders, National Guard officials said. He did not do so by the time he departed the military and his retirement rank reverted to master sergeant on May 15, 2005, officials said. Walz retired the next day. 

The Harris campaign declined to address why Walz has inaccurately said he retired as one. 

Newsweek has more on the issue concerning Walz’s rank: 

The Minnesota National Guard is disputing Governor Tim Walz's military biography, saying that the Democratic vice presidential candidate did not hold the rank of command sergeant major at the time of his retirement. 

Army Lieutenant Colonel Kristen Augé, the state public affairs officer for Minnesota National Guard, told Just the News on Wednesday that the governor did not retire as "Command Sergeant Major Walz" in 2005, as stated on Minnesota's official website, but as master sergeant "because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy." A soldier who does not complete the requisite coursework is automatically demoted, according to Army regulations. 

This is stolen valor. Period. And some news outlets and hosts, like CNN’s Jake Tapper and ABC News’ Selina Wang, need to update and apologize for their segments of fake news yesterday:

Will Walz make it to the convention? Even CNN's Van Jones can't spin this right now:

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