Donald Trump running mate JD Vance shot back at CNN after a correspondent disparaged his military service while defending Democrat VP pick Tim Walz from stolen valor and desertion claims.
During a CNN segment Thursday, reporter Brianna Keilar portrayed Vance as an “imperfect messenger” to be questioning Walz’s troop abandonment, claiming Vance merely served as a “public affairs specialist.”
“I…think that JD Vance as a messenger on this may be an imperfect messenger,” Keilar said.
Brianna this is disgusting, and you and your entire network should be ashamed of yourselves.
When I got the call to go to Iraq, I went.
Tim Walz said he carried a gun in a war. Did he? No. It was a lie. https://t.co/kt0oxzZb83
— JD Vance (@JDVance) August 8, 2024
She added, “Because we have – as you introduced him as a combat correspondent, which was what his title was, but when you did a little deeper into that, he was a public affairs specialist. Someone who did not see combat, which certainly the title ‘combat correspondent’ gives you the impression.”
Vance blasted Keilar for her gross distortion of his military service.
“Brianna this is disgusting, and you and your entire network should be ashamed of yourselves,” the Republican Ohio senator snapped on X.
Brianna this is disgusting, and you and your entire network should be ashamed of yourselves.
When I got the call to go to Iraq, I went.
Tim Walz said he carried a gun in a war. Did he? No. It was a lie. https://t.co/kt0oxzZb83
— JD Vance (@JDVance) August 8, 2024
“When I got the call to go to Iraq, I went,” Vance added, referencing Walz’s abandonment of his platoon prior to their deployment to Iraq in 2005.
The Trump War Room account on X also disputed Keilar’s remarks, writing, “Brianna — the difference is that @JDVance never lied about his rank or his service, and when his unit deployed to Iraq, he didn’t abandon them.”
Indeed, Keilar’s comment undermines the fact that combat correspondents put their lives on the line while performing their duties from active war zones.
Case in point: USMC Major Megan McClung, the first female “Public Affairs Officer” who was killed by an IED in Iraq in 2006 while escorting journalists near Ramadi.
USMC Major Megan McClung was also a Marine public affairs officer. She was killed by an IED in Anbar, Iraq. She wasn’t kicking down doors, either. She is buried in Section 60 at Arlington.
Shame on you. https://t.co/DuXFKvVvda pic.twitter.com/ZTvL4LgNbV
— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) August 7, 2024
Meanwhile, stolen valor allegations against Walz are gaining traction, as he’s accused of embellishing his military career by claiming he’s a combat veteran, despite never actually seeing action.
HOLY SH*T!
Minnesota National Guard Leaders Expose Tim Walz for Stolen Valor, Lying About His Rank, and Quitting When His Unit Was Deployed to Iraq.
"As soon as the shots were fired in Iraq, he turned and ran the other way and hung his hat up and quit," said Tom Behrends, a… pic.twitter.com/14zvDeSPRV
— I Meme Therefore I Am
(@ImMeme0) August 6, 2024
