Amid attacks from the Trump-Vance camp on his military service, Tim Walz offered what was being called a "forceful" defense of his record at his first solo campaign stop Tuesday. The Minnesota governor and running mate of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris appeared at the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees convention in Los Angeles, where he addressed the criticism for the first time publicly, Politico reports. "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," Walz said, per CNN.
Donald Trump's running mate JD Vance has accused Walz of lying about his military record and suggested he timed his retirement to avoid being deployed to Iraq. "These guys are even attacking me for my record of service," Walz said, to applause. "I just want to say, I'm proud to have served my country, and I always will be. ... 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 replied on X that he also thanks Walz for his service, "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." (More Tim Walz stories.)
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