'Shameful': JD Vance accuses Tim Walz of quitting Army National Guard to avoid Iraq deployment

Donald Trump's running mate JD Vance

Republican candidate and former US President Donald Trump's running mate Senator JD Vance on Wednesday ramped up attack on Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and accused him of quitting the Army National Guard 20 years ago in order to avoid being deployed to Iraq.

Vance also accused Walz of exaggerating his service record to claim falsely that he had served in combat. Trump's vice president pick Vance's sharp remarks came while speaking at the police department in Shelby Township, Michigan.

When the United State Marine Corps, when the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it. I did what they asked me to do, and I did it honorably and I’m very proud of that service. When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him,” Vance said.

You know what really bothers me about Tim Walz?

When the US Marine Corps asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it.

Related stories

• 
  Iran-Israel Conflict: Centre to meet shipping stakeholders to assess impact on trade
• 
  Massive Sandstorm Slams Iraq, Over 1,000 Hospitalized in Basra | N18G
• 
  States sue Trump over election order, warn of voting ‘chaos’

When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, he dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him. I think that's shameful. pic.twitter.com/Dq9xjn4R51

— JD Vance (@JDVance) August 7, 2024

Notably, Walz filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission as a candidate for Congress on February 10, 2005. The next month, after the guard announced a possible deployment to Iraq within two years, Walz’s campaign issued a statement saying he intended to stay in the race.

According to the Minnesota National Guard, Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard, retiring in May 2005, While service members often submit their paperwork for retirement months before their retirement date, It’s unclear when Walz submitted his papers for retirement. A National Guard article on his unit’s deployment states that it received alert orders to deploy to Iraq in July 2005 – two months after Walz retired.

Meanwhile, Vance served four years in the Marine Corps as an enlisted combat correspondent, in public affairs, and deployed once to Iraq for roughly six months, according to his military record. He left service in September 2007 as a corporal.

Additionally, the Ohio Republican also accused Walz of falsely claiming he had served in a combat zone, pointing to the governor’s comments about supporting an assault weapons ban. “We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at,” the governor said in a video promoted by the Harris campaign. Walz deployed with the Minnesota National Guard in August 2003 to Vicenza, Italy, as part of support for the US war in Afghanistan, according to a Minnesota Guard spokesperson. He did not deploy to Afghanistan or Iraq or a combat zone as part of his service.