Blistering fact-check debunks 'utterly baseless swift-boating' of Walz’s military record

08 August 2024

After Vice President Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her presidential running mate, it didn't former President Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) long to start attacking him. And one of Vance's lines of attack is claiming, with zero evidence, that Walz is distorting and exaggerating his military record.

In an August 8 column, MSNBC's Steve Benen debunks MAGA claims about Walz's military service and argues that Republicans are trying to "swift-boat" Walz in much the same way that Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry was "swift-boated" by President George W. Bush's supporters in the 2004 election.

"In 2004, a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, bankrolled in part by a Republican megadonor and Justice Clarence Thomas benefactor, smeared then-Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's military service," Benen explains. "The deceptive operation was guided in part by a GOP consultant named Chris LaCivita. Twenty years later, LaCivita is a top member of Trump's 2024 operation, and wouldn't you know it, Swift-boating, like birtherism, is making a sudden comeback."

By "birtherism," Benen is referring to Trump "promoting messages related to" Harris' "birth certificate."

Some MAGA Republicans are falsely claiming that Harris is ineligible to run for president because both of her parents were born outside the United States (her mother in India, her father in Jamaica). But in fact, the Oakland-born Harris is a lifelong U.S. citizen.

Ohio Capital Journal's Charlie Hunt, in an August 8 op-ed, stresses that Harris clearly enjoys "birthright citizenship" under the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment.

Similarly, Benen, in his MSNBC column, tears apart Vance's claim that Walz is resorting to "stolen valor."

"Based on all of the available evidence," Benen observes, "this line of attack appears utterly baseless. Walz enlisted in the Army National Guard as a teenager, and his military service spanned nearly a quarter of a century. The Minnesotan served honorably, rose to the rank of command sergeant major, and retired as a master sergeant in 2005. Months after his retirement, Walz's unit was deployed, which is apparently of interest to the Republican attack machine, but which does not appear to be controversial."

Benen adds, "In fact, Vote Vets, a progressive veterans group, published a brief summary, fact-checking the anti-Walz smear, and helping set the record straight.

Steve Benen's full MSNBC column is available at this link.

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