Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio quipped Tuesday that his counterpart, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is finally getting combat zone experience with the Democratic National Convention being held in Chicago.
Asked by a reporter at a campaign event in neighboring Kenosha, Wisconsin, about the opening night of the convention, Vance responded, “I will say just the contrast between the public safety policies of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump is really striking.”
“It’s almost a joke to me that they held it in Chicago, which has become the murder capital of the United States of America, thanks to very failed Democrat leadership,” he continued.
The New York Post reported that in 2023 the city saw 617 people murdered, with homicides up nearly 50 percent from a decade ago. Chicago has led the U.S. in the most murders for 12 years in a row.
Over the weekend ahead of the Democratic convention, at least 30 people were shot, five fatally, according to WLS-TV.
Vance said, “My little theory about why they decided to have the convention in Chicago is, you know, Tim Walz has been going around saying that he served in war, and maybe they did it in Chicago so that he could actually, accurately say he visited a combat zone.”
Sen. @JDVance on the #DNC: “Tim Walz has been going around saying that he served in war and maybe they did it in Chicago so that he could actually, accurately say he visited a combat zone…” pic.twitter.com/5UU8UXgiY4
— CSPAN (@cspan) August 20, 2024
“Chicago has violent crime statistics that actually mirror … third world highly violent countries,” he added.
Do you think Walz is guilty of stolen valor?
“I think it is a good contrast between the policies of Kamala Harris that promote violent crime and the criminals who do it, and the policies of Donald J. Trump, to promote peace, to promote prosperity and want to throw the violent criminals behind bars,” Vance concluded.
Earlier this month, Vance, a Marine Corps combat veteran, hit Walz for stolen valor, arguing, “He said, ‘We shouldn’t allow weapons that I used in war to be [used] on America’s streets.’”
“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?” he asked.
Woah. CNN fact checks Tim Walz for lying about carrying weapons in war
“There is a difference between being involved in a time of war, and actually being in a position where people are shooting at you… that is absolutely false”
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) August 7, 2024
Walz never served in war, or even anywhere near a combat zone, USA Today reported.
He was in the National Guard during a time of war, having enlisted in 1981 and retired in 2005.
“Walz deployed with the Minnesota National Guard in August 2003 to Vicenza, Italy, as part of support for the US war in Afghanistan, according to a Minnesota Guard spokesperson. He did not deploy to Afghanistan or Iraq or a combat zone as part of his service,” according to CNN.
Walz retired from the Army in 2005 to run for Congress, just months before his artillery unit deployed to Iraq.
