Tim Walz’s military departure under scrutiny

As Kamala Harris surges in the polls, Republicans have turned their attention to her controversial running mate, Tim Walz.

As Kamala Harris surges in the polls, the Republican Party have turned their attention to her running mate, Tim Walz, questioning the Minnesota Governor’s 20-year military career and controversial departure just prior to a deployment to Iraq in 2005.

A former National Guard colleague has accused Walz of going above him to secure his retirement on the brink of their unit’s deployment nearly 20 years ago, believing that he would have told the then-political hopeful, “Suck it up, we’re going”.

Doug Julin, who oversaw Walz as a more senior command sergeant in the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery, of the Minnesota National Guard, recalled that the future governor approached him in 2005 with some career questions, reports the New York Post.

Walz, now 60, told Julin that he was prepared for the unit’s upcoming deployment to Iraq, but said he was also interested in running for Congress, Julin told the Washington Post.

Julin said it was “no big deal,” and noted that members of Congress had deployed in the past.
“I would have analysed it and challenged him. It would have been a different discussion, but he went to the higher ranks. He knew I would have told him, ‘Suck it up, we’re going,’” Julin claimed.

Other former colleagues have criticised him for leaving the National Guard for Congress despite being fully aware that he could have requested permission from the Pentagon to run for office while on active duty.

“On May 16th, 2005, [Walz] quit, betraying his country, leaving the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its Soldiers hanging; without its senior Non-Commissioned Officer, as the battalion prepared for war,” retired Command Sergeants Major Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr wrote in a letter posted to Facebook in 2018.

The duo claimed Walz further dodged the necessary paperwork to ensure a smooth transition out of military service and “instead … slithered out the door,” with his retirement filing showing “soldier not available for signature.”

Walz has previously defended his retirement, saying, “We all do what we can. I’m proud I did 24 years [of service].”

Walz went on to win a House seat in 2006. He was elected governor of Minnesota in 2018, and was named this week as Kamala Harris’ running mate.

The criticisms against Walz’s military service have also come up on the 2024 campaign trail.

Former President Donald Trump’s VP pick, Marine Corps veteran JD Vance, has accused Walz of “stolen valour” for some of his past comments that incorrectly implied he saw direct combat.

“What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen valour garbage. Do not pretend to be something that you’re not,” Vance said at a campaign stop in Michigan on Wednesday.

But what else do we know about Walz? Here’s everything you need to know about the man who caught the world’s attention by calling the former US president and his running mate JD Vance “weird as hell” and “creepy”.

WHAT TIM WALZ MEANS FOR HARRIS’S CAMPAIGN

Kamala Harris will be hoping Tim Walz’s folksy image as a “Midwestern dad” from the American heartland will be attractive to rural, white voters.

Ms Harris, who did not know the Minnesota Governor well before their one-on-one, apparently clicked with him immediately and was drawn to his record on improving access to reproductive health, paid leave, child tax credits and gun safety.

Kamala Harris with vice presidential candidate Tim Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

The US Vice President was also impressed by the former high school teacher and football coach’s past success in flipping a Republican-leaning district in 2006, which she believes will play well in the battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

WHEN DID TIM WALZ CALL DONALD TRUMP ‘WEIRD’?

Tim Walz rose to prominence after going viral for using the word “weird” to describe Donald Trump.

The term, which ties in with Mr Walz’s plain-speaking Midwestern style, caught on quickly within the Harris campaign and was amplified on social media.

The plain-speaking Minnesota Governor Tim Walz went viral after calling Donald Trump “weird”. Picture: AFP

Mr Walz had been using the description for months but it went viral after he uttered it in a TV appearance in late July.

His of his interview clip on X — captioned: “I’m telling you: these guys are weird” — got over 4.6 million views.

I’m telling you: these guys are weird. pic.twitter.com/fvNRNf7T7T

— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) July 24, 2024

He then repeated it during his debut campaign speech in Philadelphia, where he called Mr Trump and Senator JD Vance “weird as hell” and “creepy”.

WHAT NATIONALITY IS TIM WALZ?

Tim Walz was born in West Point, Nebraska, and is of German heritage via his great-grandfather.

IS MINNESOTA A SWING STATE?

Minnesota is not considered a swing state — it last went red in a presidential election in 1972 when a majority of Minnesotans voted for former Republican president Richard Nixon.

WHAT ARE TIM WALZ’S VIEWS AND POLITICAL BELIEFS?

Mr Walz has long been a supporter of abortion rights as well as LGBTQ+ rights.

A strong advocate for care workers and caregivers, he was criticised by Republican leaders during the pandemic for his hard line Covid-19 policy, which included an indoor mask mandate.

Kamala Harris will be hoping Tim Walz appeals to rural voters. Picture: AFP

In a statement, the Trump campaign described Waltz as a “dangerously liberal extremist”.

“From proposing his own carbon-free agenda, to suggesting stricter emission standards for gas-powered cars, and embracing policies to allow convicted felons to vote, Walz is obsessed with spreading California’s dangerously liberal agenda far and wide,” the statement said.

“If Walz won’t tell voters the truth, we will: just like Kamala Harris, Tim Walz is a dangerously liberal extremist, and the Harris-Walz California dream is every American’s nightmare.”

US vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gorvernor Tim Walz on the first day of the Battleground State Tour. Picture: AFP

WHAT DID TIM WALZ DO FOR MINNESOTA?

Tim Walz has championed veterans’ issues and in 2003 made Minnesota one of just six states then to offer free lunch to public school students.

As Minnesota Governor, Mr Waltz signed a number of gun safety measures into law including universal background checks, a “red flag” law that allows police or family members to petition a judge over a person’s use of firearms and harsher measures for ineligible people caught purchasing guns.

WHAT ABOUT TIM WALZ’S FAMILY?

Tim Walz has been married to wife Gwen Whipple since 1994 and the couple share two children, Hope and Gus.

In his joint campaign appearance with Ms Harris, Mr Walz opened up about his and Gwen’s seven-year IVF journey before they were able to have children and how they named their daughter Hope after their lengthy fertility battle.