Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Gov. Tim Walz lied about his military career for his own political gain.
Anchor Dana Bash said, “Governor Walz served 24 years, he even stayed after he could have retired because of 9/11, more than the country asked of him, do you honor his service?”
Vance said, “Well of course, Dana, I honor his service and I’ve never criticized what Tim Walz did when he was in the military. I criticized his retirement decision and most importantly, Dana, I criticized his lying about his own record.”
He added, “This is a guy who was captured on video saying, I carried a gun in war. He never went to war. This is a guy who has been captured on video as other people say, he’s an Afghanistan veteran, he’s a veteran of a war, nodding along in agreement instead of saying ‘No, no, no, I did serve my country. I did it honorably, but I never went to a war zone.’ I’m not criticizing Tim Walz’s service. I’m criticizing the fact that he lied about his service for political gain. Dana, now I served in the United States Marine Corps, you know this. And look, there are a lot of things that I’m proud about. I’ve never lied about what I did or overstated it because it would be beneficial to me in an election. I think that’s what Tim Walz did. That’s what I was criticizing. Yes, I do think it’s scandalous behavior.”
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