Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, clapped back at CNN after being accused of embellishing his military service. The Republican vice presidential nominee has been critical of his Democratic opponent, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, over similar concerns about military service claims.
Vance served as a U.S. Marine in Iraq and has targeted Walz, whose military service has come under scrutiny since his selection by Vice President Harris as her running mate. But CNN’s Brianna Keilar suggested Vance might not be the best critic on this issue.
Keilar pointed out that Vance was a “combat correspondent,” but his actual role was as a public affairs specialist. “He did not see combat, which the title ‘combat correspondent’ might suggest,” Keilar told Dana Bash on Thursday, adding that this made Vance “an imperfect messenger.”
Vance was quick to respond on social media. “Brianna, this is disgusting. You and your entire network should be ashamed,” Vance wrote on X. He emphasized, “When I got the call to go to Iraq, I went. Tim Walz claimed he carried a gun in war. Did he? No. It was a lie.”
In a conversation with reporters on Wednesday, Vance clarified, “I served in a combat zone. I never claimed to have seen a firefight, but I’ve always been honest about my Marine Corps service. That’s the difference.”
Critics have turned their attention to an old video shared by the Harris campaign. In the video, Walz advocated for gun control, saying, “We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.”
Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Behrends, who served in Walz’s battalion, criticized the governor’s comments. “To most people, that would mean he was actually in combat,” Behrends told the ‘Ingraham Angle’ on Wednesday.
Even a CNN correspondent fact-checked Walz, stating, “There is no evidence” he carried weapons in combat, despite what Walz previously implied.
Walz never served in an active war zone. He was deployed with the Minnesota National Guard to Italy in 2003 to support Operation Enduring Freedom. The battalion carried out security missions in Europe and Turkey, and Walz was stationed in Italy until his return to Minnesota in 2004. He did not deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan.