During his first solo appearance on the campaign trail Tuesday night, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) responded to criticism over his military record from his opponent, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH).
The comments from Walz came while he spoke before the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union in Los Angeles.
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“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,” Walz said.
Walz’s remarks came after Vance, a Marine veteran, suggested that the Minnesota governor, who served in the Army National Guard, had been insincere about his service record.
Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, said earlier this month that he served in Iraq when he was asked to but that Walz had “dropped out of the army” to avoid doing so.
During his speech on Tuesday, Walz addressed the attack from Vance and former President Donald Trump.
“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. With my dad’s encouragement — a guy who served in the Army during the Korean War — I signed by for the Army National Guard two days after my 17th birthday,” Walz said Tuesday.
Having spent two dozen years in the Army National Guard, Walz, who never saw combat, left so he could run for Congress before his unit was deployed. At the time of his retirement, those who served with him said they didn’t know they would be deploying soon, NewsNation reported.
“In 2005, I felt the call of duty again, this time of being a service to my country in the halls of Congress. My students inspired me to run for that office,” Walz said.
Walz also touched on his union background during his speech, claiming to be the first union member on a presidential ticket since former President Ronald Reagan. Appealing to those in attendance, Walz said he offered something Trump and Vance couldn’t.
“Donald Trump and JD Vance, they see the world very differently than we do. The only thing those two guys know about working people is how to work to take advantage of them,” Walz said. “That’s what they know about it.”
“The vice president and I, we know, exactly who built this country — it was nurses, it was teachers, and it was state and local government employees that built this nation. People in this room built the middle class,” Walz added.
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