Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz finally kind of sort of addressed the allegations that he has been misleading the public on his military service – and he is not sorry about it. Kamala Harris’ running mate was on the campaign trail on Tuesday when he declared he is “damn proud” of his record and took issue with anyone who questions it.
On Wednesday’s show, Megyn was joined by the hosts of The Fifth Column – Kmele Foster, Michael Moynihan, and Matt Welch – to discuss Walz’s response and what it means for the Harris-Walz campaign.
Walz Responds
There is no scrutinizing the fact that the congressman-turned-governor spent 24 years serving the country in the Army National Guard and was deployed to Italy in 2003 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (a.k.a. the war in Afghanistan). But what has been under scrutiny for nearly two decades since he left the Minnesota National Guard to run for Congress is the circumstances surrounding his retirement, his rank at the time, and how he has represented his time in the service.
Walz was speaking at the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Convention in Los Angeles on Tuesday when he responded to some of the criticism he has faced.
WALZ: These guys… are even attacking me for my record of service, and I just want to say, I’m proud to have served my country, and I always will be… I signed up for the Army National Guard two days after my seventeenth birthday. I served for the next 24 years for the same reason all my brothers and sisters in uniform do. We love this country.
Then in 2005, I felt the call of duty again, this time being service to my country in the halls of Congress. My students inspired me to run for that office, and I was proud to make it to Washington. I was a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee and a champion of our men and women in uniform.
I’m going to say it again as clearly as I can: I am damn proud of my service to this country, and I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person’s service record. To anyone brave enough to put on that uniform for our great country, including my opponent, I just have a few simple words: Thank you for your service and sacrifice.
The “my opponent” remark was a reference to Republican vice presidential nominee and U.S. Marine Corps veteran J.D. Vance who has been critical of Walz. He wasted no time responding on X.
“Hi Tim, I thank you for your service. But you shouldn’t have lied about it,” Vance wrote.” You shouldn’t have said you went to war when you didn’t. Nor should you have said that you didn’t know your unit was going to Iraq. Happy to discuss more in a debate.”
Was It Enough?
Like his running mate, Walz has yet to take any questions from the media in a meaningful way, instead using stump speeches to shape the narrative. As such, he managed to address the controversy without actually addressing the substance of the controversy.
“Little Known truth: If you’re in trouble – politically or otherwise – I guess you come out to respond and just keep saying ‘damn’ and that helps erase the controversy,” Megyn joked. “He was responding for the first time yesterday to allegations of stolen valor without actually addressing any of the claims of stolen valor against him. But he did let us know that he is ‘damn proud’ of his service.”
As Moynihan explained, Walz used his time to respond to a charge that no one ever brought against him. “There are lots of questions about his service, some of which I think are overblown, some of which I think he really has to respond to,” he said. “But to say, ‘Damn, I’m proud.’ This is not a pride parade. It’s not that you weren’t proud.”
What he should have an answer for, Moynihan said, is the criticism coming directly from his fellow soldiers who accuse him of essentially bailing on them before they were deployed to Iraq. “That is the only thing that actually attacks his service or questions his service,” Welch added. “Everything else is… [about] the way that he characterized his service either directly or kind of as he makes comments that sound hyperbolic or exaggerate. That’s depictions of your service, not your actual service.”
At the end of the day, Foster said this is a complicated controversy for civilians to understand and that works to Walz’s advantage. “The details of this controversy are sufficiently nebulous in a way that helps Walz because it takes a little bit to understand all of the different parts,” he concluded. “But I do think the way that he is handling this controversy is an excellent illustration of exactly the advantage the Harris campaign is seeking to gain by completely avoiding the press.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with The Fifth Column by tuning in to episode 861 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.