Takeaways from the AP’s review of Tim Walz’s descriptions of his military record

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz served in the National Guard for 24 years, rising through the enlisted ranks and receiving an honorable discharge. It is a record seen as one of his political strengths. Republicans are trying to turn it into a weakness.

They have seized on criticism from former National Guard members denouncing Walz, the Minnesota governor, for retiring from the military in 2005 to run for Congress shortly before his unit was deployed to Iraq and for overstating the rank he held after he left the service. They also have pointed to a comment Walz made that implied he had seen combat, when he had not.

It is a risky strategy for Republicans that invites comparison between Walz, with decades of military service, and former President Donald Trump, who received a series of deferments to avoid serving in Vietnam, including one attained with a physician’s letter stating he suffered from bone spurs in his feet.

Walz’s supporters reject such criticism as politically motivated and denigrating the sacrifices he and other troops have made. The Kamala Harris-Walz campaign has defended his record and says he is “a tireless advocate for our men and women in uniform.”

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