Sen. Mark Kelly, R-Ariz., a retired U.S. Navy captain and astronaut, is calling out Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, for his slams on Gov. Tim Walz's military record, saying both vice presidential candidates deserve respect for having served.
"Hey @JDVance, did you forget what the [United States Marine Corps] taught you about respect? Tim Walz spent DECADES in uniform," Kelly wrote in an X post.
"You both deserve to be thanked for your service," Kelly, who served in Operation Desert Storm, added. "Don't become [former President] Donald Trump. He calls veterans suckers and losers and that is beneath those of us who have actually served."
Vance, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years, has attacked his opponent and accused him using "stolen valor" to further his political aims.
Walz served in the National Guard for 24 years and was selected in 2004 to serve as command sergeant major of the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion. He retired two months before his unit received alert orders to deploy to Iraq, announcing he was running for Congress, reports CNN.
Vance attacked Walz after the governor said when speaking about gun control, that "We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war."
Meanwhile, Vance, R-Ohio, served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps as an enlisted combat correspondent, working in public affairs, reports CNN. He was deployed once to Iraq for roughly six months and left the military in September 2007 at the rank of corporal.
Vance admitted he did not see combat, but he did go to Iraq when his unit was called up, unlike Walz.
Kelly had been among the leading contenders on the list to be Harris' running mate.
Luke Schroeder, a spokesperson for Vance insisted, in a statement to The Hill, that Walz "lied about carrying a weapon in a war and abandoned his unit as they prepared to actually deploy for war – he said he would answer the call, but when the call came, he ran for office instead."
"There's nothing more insulting to veterans who do answer the call to serve in a combat zone like Senator Vance did than those who engage in stolen valor to benefit their political career – which is exactly what Walz appears to have done," he added. "Maybe Mark Kelly would have been a better VP pick after all."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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