Republicans ask Walz to correct military service statements

More than 50 Republican members of Congress on Wednesday demanded that the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz come clean about his military service record. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., authored the letter and dozens of other Republicans, all veterans, cosigned it. Former President Donald Trump’s campaign also circulated the letter, which echoed criticisms that have dogged Walz throughout his political career. Walz did not apologize in a statement Thursday, saying he was proud of his military career.

What are those criticisms? Republicans alleged Walz lied about the rank he held when he retired from the U.S. Army National Guard. The letter also alleged that he told the public he carried weapons in war although he never even served in a combat zone.

Republicans also accused Walz of leaving his National Guard unit, saying he abandoned it, two months before it discovered it would deploy to Iraq. The unit had not yet officially received notice it would deploy to the Middle East when Walz retired, but soldiers within the unit understood unofficially for months that they would soon deploy, WORLD earlier reported.

Because he abandoned troops headed into combat and misrepresented his service record, veterans can not trust him to possibly lead the U.S. military as commander-in-chief, Republicans said. Until Walz admitted that he lied about aspects of his service, he could not be trusted with the office of vice president, according to the group’s letter.

Has Walz responded to those allegations? Walz said early on Thursday that he proudly wore his military uniform for 24 years. That echoed a statement he made earlier this month expressing his pride in his service. In that statement, he said veterans should never denigrate another person’s service record and thanked all veterans for their service and sacrifice.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report in The Sift about how Vice Presidential nominees J.D. Vance and Tim Walz will face each other on the debate stage in October.