Vance challenges Walz to thrash out military records in debate after Harris’s VP pick slams stolen valor claim

JD Vance has challenged his Democratic vice presidential rival Tim Walz to thrash out their military records on the debate stage after Kamala Harris’s running mate fired back at accusations of stolen valor.

The Minnesota governor and the Ohio senator have been embroiled in a feud over their time served in the naval and armed forces.

While neither actively fought in combat roles, Republicans have accused Walz of “stolen valor” for allegedly overstating his military record and have claimed, without merit, that he purposely avoided deployment to Iraq.

On Tuesday night, Walz fiercely defended his 24 years in the Army National Guard – the US Army’s combat reserve – while speaking on stage at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union convention in Los Angeles.

“I just want to say, I’m proud to have served my country, and I always will be,” Walz said to a cheering AFSCME audience.

The vice presidential hopeful went on to blast critics for calling out Americans for their service to their country.

“I’m going to say it again as clearly as I can: I am damn proud of my service to this country, and I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person’s service record,” he said.

“To anyone brave enough to put on that uniform for our great country, including my opponent, I just have a few simple words: Thank you for your service and sacrifice.”

Vance, a former public affairs officer in the Marines Corps having enlisted in 2003, reshared a clip of the Democratic vice presidential candidate’s speech and continued to attack him for having “lied” about his record.

“Hi Tim, I thank you for your service,” Vance wrote on X on Tuesday.

“But you shouldn’t have lied about it. You shouldn’t have said