Did Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz falsely claim to have seen combat in either Iraq or Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom? As Twitchy reported earlier, take it from Walz's battalion commander if not from letters from Guardsman who served with him. He quit to pursue his political career when he knew his unit was being deployed to Iraq. But he still talks about carrying weapons of war on the battlefront (Italy?).
Drew Holden has put together a thread on Walz, his claims, and the media's spin on them. Remember, in a Friday night news dump, the Kamala Harris campaign put out a statement admitting that Walz "misspoke" in a 2018 video that included the vice presidential candidate talking about his handling of weapons "in war." That video wasn't the only time he misspoke.
🧵Thread🧵
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
I know it’s difficult to keep track of all of Tim Walz’s “stolen valor,” exaggerations & false claims about his time in the military.
I tried to compile as many as I could, as well as a few egregious cases of the media spinning for him.
Buckle in, there’s a lot. ⤵️
First, the false claims. To avoid a sort of journalistic stolen valor, I want to be clear: others did this work.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
I’ll try to source as well as I can, starting with the latest Walz whopper: saying he took part in the Afghanistan surge in a 2010 debate.
From @NoVA_Campaigns: pic.twitter.com/reRsMT3FJi
There’s been a lot of good reporting. Perhaps none better than from @ChuckRossDC of the Free Beacon.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
His first is on that Afghanistan claim, citing Walz’s repeated description of himself as a veteran of “Operation Enduring Freedom,” the gov’t name of the fight in Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/3MG577LFv6
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@ChuckRossDC also scooped that Pelosi thanked Walz for his “service on the battlefield.”
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
Rather than point out that he wasn’t ever on a battlefield, Walz thanked her back. pic.twitter.com/L4He0ti8me
Walz has trotted out other versions of this “battlefield” claim.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
As @JDVance pointed out recently, Walz—while trying to ban “assault weapons”—compared them to weapons he had carried “in war.”
The problem? Walz has never been on a battlefield. Or in a war. pic.twitter.com/HLC6o8Dwmx
In fact, when Walz’s unit deployed, he retired, leaving his soldiers in the lurch without one of their senior officers.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
Unsurprisingly, the soldiers who did deploy don’t exactly think fondly of Walz. @CaitlinDoornbos & @jchristenson_ talked to them. pic.twitter.com/S3xpxZifbn
And Walz has also made it a habit to mislead about his rank when he retired.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
Here’s @AsheSchow with the explainer: pic.twitter.com/9TI03MwCIB
And, finally — and pivoting us to the spin on this — the campaign claimed that Walz chaired the House Veterans Commitee.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
He didn’t, but as @PhilipWegmann points out, tons of outlets didn’t bother to fact check these claims, including @AP and @nytimes pic.twitter.com/Pz05Il0QH9
@CBSNews did, too, on Instagram.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
Theirs is allegedly a “fact-check.”
What facts are here? And how are they checked, exactly? pic.twitter.com/uspgTILHfY
Most outlets corrected their reporting when it became clear that none of them bothered to interrogate what the Dems had told them about Walz’s supposed chairmanship.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
But not @USATODAY. Might be a good time to correct! pic.twitter.com/LAzjxxRkuC
The new "swift-boat"? As much as we despite John Kerry, he actually went overseas.
That wasn’t all from that @USATODAY piece, though.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
They also claimed that these attacks were an example of “swift boating,” a reference to criticisms of Kerry in 2004, used as a stand-in for unsubstantiated or baseless claims related to a candidate’s military service. pic.twitter.com/3gjkazKsBm
Lots of other outlets have done this, too.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
Here’s @politico, @CNN, @washingtonpost and @NPR (because I can only have four screenshots in a tweet). pic.twitter.com/i2L0tzyrQr
And two more from @MSNBC and @NYMag.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
The only problem? None of these claims are unsubstantiated! Non-mainstream journalists did the actual work of investigating them.
Perhaps the corporate press could learn a thing or two about what real journalism entails. pic.twitter.com/OHW2YfVdau
Because there’s more where that came from.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
Rather than investigate the actual claims, @CNN fact checked the criticism from @JDVance. pic.twitter.com/ALfqHIVDrA
@washingtonpost fact checked the real reporting from @ChuckRossDC and the @FreeBeacon.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
The “facts” elucidated by their “checking” here are less than convincing. Give them a read. pic.twitter.com/zyWGDpHht5
@AP did this, too. The convenient timing of his retirement apparently isn’t evidence of anything.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
Nothing gets by these guys. pic.twitter.com/ZPdQajLk88
Back to @CNN, who went out of their way to validate my disdain for “analysis.”
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
They called @JDVance’s criticism a “troll.”
Actually providing the public scrutiny to someone seeking to be one heartbeat away from the nuclear codes.
That’s somehow a “troll.”
Okay. pic.twitter.com/O9ARVdtbf7
And then there were the efforts to obfuscate by providing context.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
I thought it couldn’t get worse than this @nytimes headline.
Then I read the piece. Here’s just a couple highlights (more at my newsletter piece on the subject.) pic.twitter.com/pg6c9xuCsb
I’m running out of space but I couldn’t leave out this ridiculous headline from @MSNBC. pic.twitter.com/FhG1DA6mZ0
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
"By Chris Hayes."
For the takedown of @voxdotcom, read this great thread from @peterjhasson pic.twitter.com/K28wer7lTf
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
I joined the @MegynKellyShow alongside @redsteeze to talk about some of this. If you didn’t catch it, give it a watch/download.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
The whole episode is well worth your time. I’m on at the end. pic.twitter.com/N9xeVijfdy
I know you don’t need me to tell you why this matters.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
But instead of applying the least bit of scrutiny or accountability for a Democratic candidate for VP, the media are actively trying to hide the blemishes on his resume.
Apparently, the press would rather talk about Walz’s vibes.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 12, 2024
How about some journalism instead? pic.twitter.com/m4i5HSgnyl
Ah yes, Walz's selection has brought "joy" to the Harris campaign. So we've been told, over and over.
Thanks Drew. I'm retired Army and I'm furious at Walz for being a shitbag and for the MSM for blatantly lying and covering for him.
— Colleen the Vet (@colleenthevet) August 12, 2024
Hi, @Tim_Walz and @KamalaHarris—
— Bree A Dail (@breeadail) August 11, 2024
Just wondering, did you also “misprint” your rank as Command Sergeant Major on your Congressional Challenge Coin?
cc: @NBCNews https://t.co/KIILqMgj9S pic.twitter.com/fkZrb4luHv
Walz was either in combat or he wasn't. Walz was either in Afghanistan or Iraq or he wasn't. I'm sure he wouldn't lie.
— sterling sorbet (@expeedee) August 12, 2024
To sum it up: Walz abandoned his unit when he knew they would be sent to Iraq to build a political identity based on a rank he provisionally held for 45 days that was ultimately stripped from him and then proceeded to mislead the public for decades that he served in combat.
— CyberRangerTX (@CyberRangerTX) August 12, 2024
That's all true, but now the Republicans are pouncing on it. Maybe Walz could do a sit-down interview or a press conference and give us the real story instead of letting himself be "swift-boated."
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