Harris campaign walks back Walz bio amid ‘stolen valor’ controversy as questions swirl
The Harris campaign has altered its biography of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on its campaign website, making a change to a reference to his military service amid ongoing scrutiny of the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee’s military credentials.
Walz’s biography initially said he was a "retired Command Sergeant Major."
It has since been updated to say that he "served as a command sergeant major."
Vice President Kamala Harris announced Walz as her running mate Tuesday, setting off a series of attacks over Walz’s background as Minnesota governor, a lawmaker and a member of the National Guard for nearly 25 years.
When Walz left the Guard, he had achieved the rank of command sergeant major, but he was reduced in rank months after retiring, leaving him as a master sergeant. National Guard officials have said that he retired before fulfilling requirements for the position, including coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy. The subsequent lower rank was due to benefit requirements and a technicality.
However, Republicans have accused Walz of engaging in "stolen valor garbage."
"Do not pretend to be something that you’re not," Sen. JD Vance, former President Trump’s running mate, said this week. Vance is a Marine Corps veteran.
"I’d be ashamed if I was saying that I lied about my military service like you did," he said.
Vance accused Walz of having dropped out of the National Guard to avoid serving in the Iraq War.
JD VANCE ACCUSES TIM WALZ OF ‘LYING’ ABOUT MILITARY SERVICE: ‘STOLEN VALOR GARBAGE’
"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, 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."
However, the Minnesota National Guard told Fox News Walz's unit was not given deployment orders to Iraq until July, and he had submitted retirement papers five to seven months prior to his retirement in May 2005.
Army Lt. Col. Ryan Rossman, the Minnesota National Guard's director of operations, also explained Walz's rank at the time of his retirement in a statement to Fox News.
"He was technically a command sergeant major when he deployed to Europe with his battalion but to retire as a CSM you have to go through a final course, which he had not completed. So, from a benefits perspective, the Army retired him as a master sergeant (lower enlisted rank.) But, according to National Guard records, he was a command seargeant major technically when deployed. The lower rank was as a result of benefit requirements and a technicality."
Vance noted comments from Walz on gun control, saying the governor had used his 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.
The Harris campaign has defended Walz’s record.
"After 24 years of military service, Governor Walz retired in 2005 and ran for Congress, where he chaired Veterans Affairs and was a tireless advocate for our men and women in uniform. And as vice president of the United States, he will continue to be a relentless champion for our veterans and military families," the campaign said this week.
Fox News' Jennifer Griffin, Jeffrey Clark, Anders Hagstrom and The Associated Press contributed to this report.