‘Coward’: Veterans Criticize Walz Over Military Record Falsehoods
S.A. McCarthy /
Vice President Kamala Harris’ far-left running mate is being blasted by retired military officers for lying about his own military record.
On a Monday episode of “The Megyn Kelly Show,” four veterans who had served with him referred to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, as a “coward” and a “habitual liar,” calling his repeated embellishments of his military career “morally indefensible.”
Retired Minnesota National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. Paul Herr said, “He’s a habitual liar. He lies about everything. He lies about stuff that doesn’t make sense. You’re taking a piece of their thunder, and you’re trying to capture it and put it in a bottle for yourself, and use that for your own benefit.”
Herr continued, “He says all these things, like, ‘I was a football coach.’ You were assistant coach and you were fired because of a DUI that you lied about being deaf to try and get out of whatever you were trying to get out of there.”
Kelly played a compilation of video clips showing Walz claim to be a “retired command sergeant major.” The U.S. Army National Guard clarified in 2005 that Walz did not complete the necessary training to attain the rank of command sergeant major.
“And just so the record’s clear, September 2005, Minnesota National Guard discovered that his paperwork had been filed—was erroneous—saying he was retiring as a command sergeant major, and they updated it to show that he was retiring as an E-8 master sergeant,” Kelly said.
Referring to the fact that Walz repeatedly claimed that he had earned the rank of command sergeant major, even after the National Guard had issued a clarification, Kelly added, “So he ‘misspoke’ a lot. … He knew he had been demoted.”
Walz has been accused of “stolen valor” over his comments on his military record. In addition to repeatedly claiming to hold a higher rank than he actually achieved, Walz has also claimed to have carried weapons “in war,” although he abandoned his unit before deploying to Iraq.
In comments to The Washington Stand, FRC Action Director Matt Carpenter said, “Since he was chosen as the Democrat nominee for vice president, Governor Walz’s comments exaggerating his rank in the military have been front and center. Americans generally don’t expect their politicians to adhere to the highest standards of truthfulness, but they do expect them to not cross certain lines, and stolen valor is certainly one of them.”
He continued, “With two months left in the election, I’m sure the Harris-Walz campaign would rather not be mired in allegations of stolen valor, but maybe they would rather we talk about Governor Walz’s claims of rank he never earned instead of their records and policies, which are incredibly unpopular.”