Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign has been embroiled in a stolen valor scandal, which escalated on Thursday as the campaign removed its reference to vice-presidential nominee Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) as a “retired command sergeant major.” The official website of the campaign altered Walz’s biography, now stating that he once served at the command sergeant major rank instead.
This decision marks an escalation from denial to damage control for the struggling campaign. As Breitbart’s Kristina Wong reported, Governor Walz has claimed on multiple occasions that he is a retired command sergeant major, despite his rank being reduced to master sergeant since he did not complete the requirements necessary to retire as a command sergeant major.
The official campaign biography now states that Walz “rose to the rank of Command Sergeant Major,” but does not mention the reduction in rank prior to his retirement. This scandal has thrown the campaign’s rollout of its vice-presidential nominee into chaos, as additional accusations regarding Walz’s military service claims throughout his political career have emerged.
Some veterans who served with Walz allege that he abandoned them right before they were set to deploy to Iraq at the peak of the war. Furthermore, Walz has suggested on several occasions that he carried weapons into war, including in a video shared by the Harris campaign, despite having never served in a combat role.
The Harris campaign has not addressed the accusations of stolen valor against Governor Walz and has not explained why he falsely claimed to be “in war.” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre avoided answering questions about the scandal on Wednesday when asked.
This is someone who enlisted at 17 years old to serve his country. He was part of the Army National Guard for 24 years,” she said. His bio speaks for itself, and I’m just not going to say anything beyond that.