CNN anchor Brianna Keilar appears to be backing down from her attack against Trump’s vice presidential nominee. Senator J.D. VanceHe emphasized that he had “served honorably”, as he had been accused of exaggerating his military service.
“Knowledgeable observers of politics or the military, myself included, have found that the Trump campaign is ‘swiftboating’ Tim Walz. The attacks on J.D. Vance’s service are also objectionable,” Keller began the monologue Friday. “J.D. Vance served honorably in Iraq, a war zone where anything can and often does happen. As he said in his book, he was, quote, ‘lucky to avoid any real combat.’ That doesn’t make his service any lesser. ‘Lucky,’ he says. And luck often makes the difference in a combat zone or even a training mission. Today is not your day.”
“In a country where so few bear the burden, military service should not be a liability, it should be an asset,” he added. “And despite our country being at war in recent years, many service members have not seen combat. That does not make them or their service any less admirable or any less necessary. Neither does retiring from the National Guard after 24 years. Attacks like these by the left or the right diminish the service of so many others who have served honorably, who sacrifice time away from family, who put themselves at risk because the military is primarily made up of J.D. Vance’s and Tim Walze’s.”
CNN’s Brianna Keilar told viewers that Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, “served honorably,” as he faced strong criticism for suggesting he exaggerated his military service. (Screenshot/CNN)
The liberal anchor expressed surprise that “there are two veteran candidates on these presidential tickets,” which has been absent in recent presidential elections.
“He has a unique understanding of what the men and women of the United States armed forces and their families have gone through and what their needs are. And shouldn’t that be the focus?” Keller asked. “This is a race for commander-in-chief, for president. And often times the candidate or running mate has never personally served, even as they’re vying to make decisions about sending people into dangerous situations.”
“What he did this year matters to a lot of people. It matters to me. In a family where we’re raising two boys who idolize their father’s military service, two boys who are much more likely to serve because their father did,” he said. “And if they choose that path, it matters that they have someone with them who knows what that sacrifice means.”
J.D. Vance accuses Tim Walz of ‘lying’ about military service: ‘Trash of stolen valor’
On Thursday, Keilar speculated that Vance “may be an imperfect messenger” for criticizing Walz.
“Because as you’ve presented him, that was (Vance’s) title,” Keilar told her CNN colleague Dana Bash. “But when you dig a little deeper into it, you find that he was a public affairs expert, someone who didn’t see combat, which certainly gives you a different kind of impression than the title ‘war correspondent’ gives you. So he may have been an imperfect messenger in this case.”
Vance criticized Keillor and CNN on social media.
“Brianna, this is disgusting and you and your entire network should be ashamed of yourselves,” Vance wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “When I was called to go to Iraq, I went. Tim Walz said he carried a gun into combat. Did he? No. That was a lie.”
“I have served in a combat zone. I have never said I witnessed a shooting myself, but I have always told the truth about my Marine Corps service. That’s the difference,” Vance told reporters Wednesday.
CNN did not respond. Fox News Digital Previous request for comment.
Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) called Keillor’s comments “disgusting.” (AP Photo/CNN)
Critics have highlighted an old video shared by the Harris campaign in which Walz is pushing for gun control, telling voters, “We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried into the war, are the only place those weapons belong.”
Retired Command Sergeant Major Thomas Behrends, who said he was a member of Walz’s battalion, condemned the governor’s remarks.
“To most people, that would mean he was actually at war, carrying weapons in a combat zone and receiving combat pay, and in a dangerous and hostile environment where he was getting shot at.” Behrends coined the “Ingraham Angle” On Wednesday.
CNN fact-checks Tim Walz’s claim he carried a weapon ‘into battle’.
A CNN reporter also fact-checked Walz on Wednesday, stating “there is no evidence that Governor Walz was ever in a position to be shot, and it was easy to see from his language that he was shot at.”
Walz has never been in an active combat zone. According to the Minnesota Guard, he went to Italy with the Minnesota National Guard to support Operation Enduring Freedom on Aug. 3, 2003. The battalion supported security missions in various locations in Europe and Turkey, according to the Guard, and Walz was stationed in Vicenza, Italy, until returning to Minnesota in 2004. He did not deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, has faced intense scrutiny over his military record since becoming Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Vance’s opponent has been mired in controversy since coming on the Democratic ticket. Walz, who served 24 years in the Minnesota National Guard, has repeatedly described himself as a “retired command sergeant major,” which is not accurate.
According to the Minnesota National Guard, while Walz was serving as command sergeant major, “he retired from the rank of master sergeant for benefits purposes in 2005 because he had not completed additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.”
Harris campaign on Thursday Language in Walz’s bio was changed Following the controversy, his website biography initially stated that Walz was a “retired Command Sergeant Major”, but it was later updated to say he had “served as Command Sergeant Major.”
Walz has also faced criticism over the timing of his retirement from military service, with allegations that he retired earlier than planned in order to avoid deployment to Iraq.
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Tom Schilling, a veteran who said he served in the same battalion as Walz, said He “abandoned” his troops before he was deployed to Iraq in 2005.
“We all did what we were supposed to do, we did the right thing,” Schilling said Wednesday on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime.” “What he did is outrageous. He left his place for someone else to take. He simply betrayed us.”
The Harris campaign released a statement, saying, “Over his 24 years in office, the governor has picked up weapons of war countless times, fired them, and trained others to use them. Governor Walz will never disrespect or devalue any American’s service to this country — in fact, he thanks Senator Vance for risking his life for our country. It’s the American way.”
Fox News’s Alexa Moutvelis, Jennifer Griffin and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
