Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is becoming immersed in a stolen valor scandal. Is it survivable? We shall see, but it’s been bad news for Walz, who appears to have fabricated key portions of his biography, even his days as a football coach. Walz has claimed he’s been to war—that’s a lie. He claims to hold a rank he never officially obtained upon retirement. Walz bolted from his National Guard unit as they were about to be deployed in Iraq. JD Vance got deployed when he was called to serve. This scandal is a fiasco of Walz’s own doing, where he said he carried a weapon of war while making an anti-gun pitch. It has blown up in his face and immolated himself spectacularly.
We are like 30 minutes from someone digging up video of Tim Walz saying he led Washington's troops crossing the Delaware
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) August 8, 2024
lil tweak, huh? https://t.co/JiHmcUuENJ
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) August 8, 2024
To give Timmy some cover, CNN’s Brianna Keilar decided to move the goalposts, bypassing the real lie that Walz trotted out, and attack Vance’s record, claiming that he never saw combat as a public relations officer. That’s disgusting and irrelevant to the case at hand. Also, anyone in a combat zone can get killed. It’s not like these people are working in the safety of a CNN studio, Brianna. Vance went, Timmy ran away and then lied about being a veteran of the Afghanistan War.
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.
— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) August 7, 2024
Shame on you. https://t.co/DuXFKvVvda pic.twitter.com/ZTvL4LgNbV
Did CNN just accuse JD Vance of stolen valor? pic.twitter.com/WVWtc0EZAX
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 8, 2024
Brianna this is disgusting, and you and your entire network should be ashamed of yourselves.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) August 8, 2024
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
Should she be fired? Probably, but she won’t. It still offers us a reason to keep using CNN as a punching bag since dishonest morons staff them.
The satire pieces that have come from this have been undefeated, however:
Tim Walz Clarifies That He's Never Been To Iraq, But He Has Been To Downtown Minneapolis Which Is Basically The Same Thing https://t.co/54xKVEyol8 pic.twitter.com/HjnD1kKrvZ
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) August 8, 2024
UPDATE: It's not a safe, cushy job.
🧵The Marine combat correspondent MOS + related visual comms fields (photographer, videographer, public affairs officer) have recently been diminished as cushy PR jobs where combat is avoided and A/C is enjoyed.
— Luis Agostini (@LuisRAgostini) August 8, 2024
Regardless of MOS, a combat deployment is really a luck of the draw. Where you are stationed and what unit you fall under is out of a junior servicemember's control (you have more input when reenlisting), and being engaged in direct combat is an experience held by relatively few.
— Luis Agostini (@LuisRAgostini) August 8, 2024
Our collective community also includes a Medal of Honor recipient, when Cpl. William T. Perkins posthumously received the MOH for his actions on Oct. 12, 1967, when he sacrificed his body on a grenade in Vietnam, saving the lives of his fellow Marines. pic.twitter.com/Ob4e9INqcn
— Luis Agostini (@LuisRAgostini) August 8, 2024
Cpl. Aaron Mankin, a Marine combat correspondent, suffered severe burns when his amphibious assault vehicle struck an IED in Iraq on May 11, 2005, killing four Marines and injuring 11 others. pic.twitter.com/gupRf24J2G
— Luis Agostini (@LuisRAgostini) August 8, 2024
Cpl. Eugenio Montanez, a combat correspondent with the 1st Marine Division, suffered severe injuries to his arm during a rocket attack during a patrol in Afghanistan in October 2010. pic.twitter.com/rveyDCTW8H
— Luis Agostini (@LuisRAgostini) August 8, 2024
I apologize if I omitted any other examples from our community. There are also the invisible injuries suffered by combat correspondents, photographers and videographers that weigh heavily long after the deployment, as with so many others in different fields.
— Luis Agostini (@LuisRAgostini) August 8, 2024
Long thread, but I had to say something, especially when I hear so many, including in national media like @brikeilarcnn literally five minutes ago, characterize the combat correspondent MOS as a safe, cushy job.
— Luis Agostini (@LuisRAgostini) August 8, 2024
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