Video showing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz claiming that he carried weapons of war into actual war has surfaced. A Minnesota National Guard response to Fox News disputes the fact that Walz actually went into battle, but rather he skirted any skirmishes and retired instead, leaving his troops behind.
Walz, who’s the chosen vice presidential candidate for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, served a quarter of a century in the National Guard.
A video of Walz making the controversial statement can be seen on X.
‘I spent 25 years in the Army and I hunt. I’ve been voting for common sense legislation that protects the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks. We can research the impacts of gun violence. We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war,’ Walz said in his speech, aiming toward voters who don’t want guns on the streets.
Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Behrends, who said he was a member of Walz’s battalion, blasted the governor’s comments.
‘To most people, that would mean that he was actually in combat, carrying a weapon in a combat zone and getting combat pay and in a dangerous and hostile environment where he is getting shot at,’ Behrends told the ‘Ingraham Angle’ on Wednesday.
Walz never said which war he fought. During his time in the Guard, there were two wars in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, neither of which show on his military record.
The Minnesota National Guard told Fox News that Walz was part of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) while he was stationed in Italy with his unit in 2005, but that he retired before his unit went into battle.
‘Walz left the National Guard in May 2005 after 24 years of service. His unit was not given deployment orders to Iraq until July. He had put his retirement papers in 5-7 months prior to his retirement in May,’ the Minnesota National Guard said.
‘Second, there are questions about whether he served in OEF. His battalion was sent to Europe, in his case Vicenza to train units in artillery – his specialty was artillery. If you are deployed overseas in support of OEF according to the National Guard you officially served in OEF, whether you touched foot in Afghanistan or not. That is in his official military service record below.’
Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office for comment and received an automated response.
Walz was named this week as the running mate with Kamala Harris on the Democratic national ticket. Harris, the current vice president, will look to fill the shoes of President Biden and take on former President Donald Trump in the general election.
Trump’s running mate is J.D. Vance, who served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps. While speaking at an event Wednesday in Michigan, Vance said that Walz deserted his fellow soldiers who were heading off to war.
‘You abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq,’ Vance said.
Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin contributed to this story.