Minnesota National Guard - Walz didn't know about Iraq deployment and was a Command Sgt Major on the day he retired.
- Thread starter Hoosierhawkeye
- Start date
This is the correct answer.
Engaging stupid people is an absolute waste. Especially when they are Trump supporters.
No serious person believes this rises to the level of stolen valor. It’s just absolutely ****ing absurd.
It absolutely is, they are having to parse the tiniest of words, while ignoring that Trump was a draft dodger 5 times and called military that passed away in combat Losers. It must be a sad life to feel like you have to try to tear someone down so you can semi prop up Trump.
Also, does anyone think this minor thing regarding the VP nominee is going to affect voters regarding Harris?
If this is the best Trumps people have, they’re screwed.
They are trying to throw as much crap against the wall and hoping something sticks with the public like calling Biden old. The only way they can win is by tearing their opponent down, because Trump is so disliked.
Yes. Exactly the same.
Mike Tyson did not "retire" as a boxing champion.
He was a Rhodes Scholar besides less than 5% of draft age Americans served during Vietnam era. The vast majority of Americans didn’t.
By their standards, Trump claiming to know more about ISIS than the generals could be construed as “stolen valor.” After all, he was running for president in 2016 when he said it. You could make the argument Trump was purposely falsifying his military experience and knowledge (although we all know he’s just a ****ing idiot) to advance his political career. I mean, why not? Just as logical.
https://youtu.be/kul34O_yMLs
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a campaign flail like they have been the past 3 weeks. Harris isn’t a perfect candidate, and the best they can do is attack the VP?
Most of the non-racial attacks on Harris are just recycled attacks from when they were running against Biden.
Upon review of this thread I have determined that no one’s minds will be changed.
You hit the nail on the head.
I don't like what he did, or how he used little white lies for his campaign. Politicians do it all the time, I wished they didn't but they do, so I live with it. Just like Trumpers defending some of his actions, I really don't care for the way people on here are defending Walz. He embellished his service record for political gain... accept it and move on, but here we are with people trying to defend it.
Because facts don't matter. Trump told them what to believe and they believe it and nothing is going to change their mind.
If you don’t like how we’re defending it, perhaps you should also object to the attack as well.
This can certainly be framed as embellishing his record, buts not quite the same thing as a lie. As you noted, it’s unfortunately something that happens all the time. - not just politicians frankly. What I object to is this being framed as stolen valor. That sort of attack only makes sense to me if Walz was outright lying and had never held that rank.
Not to mention it minimizes actual instances of truly stolen valor. The fact is at the end of the day MAGA doesn’t actually care about stolen valor they just want a gotcha moment to make Walz look bad and this will continue to implode in their faces.
So step back and look at what he said. He did say that he was in Iraq and in a combat zone. This was vetted and found to be untrue by the local media in Minnesota. By saying this, it is a stolen valor situation. #2, his service record has him as E-8 no E-9 (which he claims), once again, vetted by local media.
I will say it again, I don't like it that he claimed this stuff. My vote will not be for him because of this. But please stop trying to defend his record. He told white lies about his service time and now the truth is out (well it's been out since his first run as Gov.)
I’ve looked and not seen where he said he was in Iraq. He was a part of operation enduring freedom but his unit deployed to Italy. Google isn’t always my friend so send me the link if you have that. As for #2 - which is what Whiskey is hung up on…that’s just a particularly ticky-tac thing to get hung up imo. When he retired, he was a command sergeant major. That was later revised downward since he hadn’t done all the work to make it permanent.
But you’re not voting for him - fine, but he’s not at the top of the ticket either. This is where I find this line of attack odd - people rarely base their vote for POTUS because of who the VP is. From an election POV, the VPs job is to basically do no harm, and I simply don’t see how this moves the needle there, unless you’re going to tell me you were going to vote Harris until you saw this.
I don't know after continuing to hit them over the head like on the Khalif situation most tend to change their position or back off quite a bit. May not change Whiskeys mind, but I think even he realizes he has a pretty poor argument. When the regulating body says there is no issues, you are kind of shit up a creek with trying to create an issue out of it.
I've seen the interview. Can't seem to find it anymore. Let me look into it more, not sure where it went. Last time I watched it was in 2020.
LOL, no I was plan on voting for her or Trump.
Stolen valor is a sticky subject for me. After watching my bestfriend take a bullet to the head and having to carry him 10 miles through a firefight, I don't like it people who steal valor and take it personal. As far as rank goes, he was nothing more than an acting Command Sergeant Major, he was never assigned the position fully (it's in the details). I don't know what Whiskey has said, I tend to skip past most of his posts.
He never said that, he said he was in Europe as part of operation freedom. Whether someone thought that meant he deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan that is on them. It has always been clear that he deployed to Italy. He has been very clear in what he did and that he was not in a combat zone.
"I know that there are certainly folks that did far more than I did. I know that," Walz said in a 2018 interview with Minnesota Public Radio.
What he state that most have jumped on is when he was referring to a dead soldier. Which appears to be a transcriber error in stating Bagram Iraq. You also had others claiming that he implied he served in Afghanistan or Iraq, when what he was referring to was a congressional trip in 2008 in which he said he saw a fallen soldier and was reflecting why some are lucky to come home like himself. While others are not.
Did Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz give a 9/11 anniversary speech in which he claimed that while serving in the National Guard he "stood one night in the dark of night at Bagram Air Base in Iraq", seemingly unaware Bagram is in Afghanistan? No, that's not true: Video of his speech shows Walz only said he was at "Bagram," not "Bagram Air Base in Iraq" and did not claim he was deployed at the time. The social media post criticizing Walz relied on a flawed transcript of remarks Walz made at a 20-year memorial event on September 11, 2021. Walz made the trip in 2008, two years after he was elected to Congress, according to a press release by a veteran's organization.
As to his rank. He did have that rank he claimed. Now he retired before gaining the remaining education requirements to retire at that level, in either case he did bear that rank. So to have concerns over that seems like you are really having issues with small details.
So sharky, if you want to base your decisions on facts, those are the facts. But if you want to deal with misinformation, please be my guest.
Also Sharky, I feel bad for what you went through with your friend. I think I would have more of a concern with Trumps statements saying anyone who died or was injured in combat was Loser. If you were to base your vote on the military and statements, I think that would be a bigger statement for you to jump on. Trump views your friend as a loser for being injured or dying. He has been very consistent in those type of statements.
Last edited:
Fair enough, and if it’s not obvious, I’ve never served, so thank you for your service.
This would simply be a bigger deal to me if he claimed to have held a rank he never did, as opposed to exaggerating it.
What I watched was of him saying it in an interview on a local news channel. Strangely I can't seem to find it anymore. I watched it when I was living there many moons ago. Since I moved from there, right after that, I really haven't given it much thought or cared to find it.
So you can give me a whole speech about what Walz said and didn't say and the misquotes of his speech, but you didn't for Trump and the misquotes about his speech. 🤔 interesting. I have stated many times I don't like Trump, but I have never heard him call anyone in the military, but McCain, a loser. I will not defend his statement about that, but I will say McCain was a hypocrite. He was the biggest anti Obamacare person there was, right up until the minute Trump wanted to repeal it. He was willing to throw his personal beliefs aside because he got his feelings hurt.
So you are basing on local interview that you may or may not remember correctly and there is no youtube or online record of any such statements . . . mmmmhmmm, seems like you are thinking about this logically. As to Trump there is actually factual support that 1. he did not go to the cemetary, and several eye witnesses who confirmed he wouldn't go because they were losers. And yes he did call McCain a loser as well.
Trump did not want to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery — which is home to the graves of Americans who fought and died in World War I — for two reasons, according to The Atlantic: He feared the rain would dishevel his hair, and "because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day." The Atlantic continued (emphasis ours):
Shortly after the publication of The Atlantic report, one unnamed senior official with the U.S. Department of Defense and one senior U.S. Marine Corps officer confirmed the 2018 cemetery remarks from the above report in interviews with The Associated Press (AP). According to the AP, the official had firsthand knowledge of Trump's remarks, and the officer had been told about them.
Last edited:
These military service dick measuring contests are exhausting.
I see Zack Nunn is trotting out the same commercial from two years ago.
Talk about something else. Show me some depth.
I see Zack Nunn is trotting out the same commercial from two years ago.
Talk about something else. Show me some depth.
First off, I do remember it the interview. Like I said, it's been taken down (I believe).
Number 2, they vetted Trump and his speech and the remarks about visiting and found them to be false. The General who said Trump said those remarks has been proven to be a liar. In a crowded plane, [he] somehow was the only one who heard it and no one else did. Unless I hear him say it straight from his mouth and not second hand, then I find it hard to believe. Just like you find it hard to believe I watched an interview and now I can't find it. As far as the AP, they get a lot wrong and don't investigate much anymore. Sadly our news is horrible these days. It either slants left or right. They've left the investigating now to the viewers to find out the truth.
Yeah I don't know why republican candidates continue to try to make these things such an issue. I mean Vance literally just pushed paper, but he will make sure you know he served in Iraq. Great for his service, but I don't think he should be the one criticing Wahls, and he is the one who made most of this such an issue.
Then until you have video proof of Wahls.
As to Trump statements, you had 3-4 members of his cabinet, 2-3 individuals from the armed forces and the cherry on top. John Kelly. Sorry I don't see this as debunked.
John Kelly confirms Trump privately disparaged U.S. service members and veterans
Trump called fallen soldiers "suckers” and "losers" during his presidency, according to a 2020 report in The Atlantic.
www.nbcnews.com
