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JD Vance has challenged his Democratic vice presidential rival Tim Walz to thrash out their military records on the debate stage after Kamala Harris’s running mate fired back at accusations of stolen valor.
The Minnesota governor and the Ohio senator have been embroiled in a feud over their time served in the naval and armed forces.
While neither actively fought in combat roles, Republicans have accused Walz of “stolen valor” for allegedly overstating his military record and have claimed, without merit, that he purposely avoided deployment to Iraq.
On Tuesday night, Walz fiercely defended his 24 years in the Army National Guard – the US Army’s combat reserve – while speaking on stage at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union convention in Los Angeles.
“I just want to say, I’m proud to have served my country, and I always will be,” Walz said to a cheering AFSCME audience.
The vice presidential hopeful went on to blast critics for calling out Americans for their service to their country.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Vance, a former public affairs officer in the Marines Corps having enlisted in 2003, reshared a clip of the Democratic vice presidential candidate’s speech and continued to attack him for having “lied” about his record.
“Hi Tim, I thank you for your service,” Vance wrote on X on Tuesday.
“But you shouldn’t have lied about it. 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,” he added.
“Happy to discuss more in a debate.”
Both VP candidates have challenged each other to a debate, with Walz first offering to meet his “just weird” Republican rival on the stage moments after he was tapped as Harris’s running mate.
Speaking at the first Harris-Walz rally on August 6, Walz told the packed-out Philadelphia crowd that he “can’t wait to debate this guy.”
In a brutal quip, he added if he gets “off the couch and shows up” – making reference to wild, false rumors circulating about Vance onlinee.
However, a date has not yet been set for a debate.
Vance has been spearheading the attack against Walz’s service record, focusing on a 2018 comment where Walz said he handled assault weapons “in war” when he actually never saw combat.
“He has not spent a day in a combat zone,” Vance told reporters outside a Michigan rally last Wednesday. “Do not pretend to be something that you’re not.”
Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign addressed her running mate’s resurfaced remark on Saturday, saying he “misspoke”.
Walz’s online biography was also updated last week from “retired command sergeant major” to “served as a command sergeant major”.
The Ohio lawmaker told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that he’s not criticizing Walz’s military service, but that “he lied about his service for political gain.”
Republican attacks on Walz’s military record have also honed in on the timing of him leaving the National Guard in February 2005, as he filed paperwork to run for Congress.
Vance claimed that Walz purposely dodged going to Iraq, calling his move into politics as “stolen valor garbage,” coming ahead of his unit being deployed.
However, Walz actually left the Guard a month prior to his Minnesota unit being informed that it might be deployed.
