“I mean, your job as a senior enlisted guy in a unit is to keep your people safe. That’s not a job you can switch out of on a moment’s notice,” said Vance to the Daily Mail. Having served with the United States Marine Corps, the senator added, “So if he abandoned his troops before they went to Iraq or wherever…absolutely shameful.”
Further commentary was provided by the Republican nominee for vice president as he fielded questions from the press in Shelby County, Michigan, and challenged, “Well I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war?”
“What was this weapon that you carried into war given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq? And he has not spent a day in a combat zone,” accused Vance. “What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen valor garbage. Do not pretend to be something that you’re not. And if he wants to criticize me for getting an Ivy League education — I’m proud of the fact that my Mamaw supported me, that I was able to make something of myself. I’d be ashamed if I was him and I lied about my military service like he did.”