Kamala Harris' campaign quietly changed the biography for running mate Tim Walz after he was caught lying about his military rank.
The website no longer describes Walz as a "retired command sergeant major" after the Minnesota National Guard confirmed he retired as a master sergeant.
Since tapping the little-known Minnesota governor to be her running mate, Harris has highlighted Walz's military background to appeal to voters in the Rust Belt and to buttress her push for gun control. But Walz is facing damaging accusations of lying about his service to advance his political career.
In resurfaced comments from his 2018 run for governor, Walz claimed to have carried weapons "in war," despite never actually going to a conflict zone. The Harris campaign shared a clip of the comments on social media.
The Harris campaign scrambled to defend Walz's comments, stating, “In his 24 years of service, the Governor carried, fired and trained others to use weapons of war innumerable times."
In addition to lying about serving in combat, Walz appears to have misrepresented his rank at retirement.
The Minnesota National Guard confirmed Wednesday that he retired as a master sergeant, not a command sergeant major, as Walz has long claimed.
The Harris campaign updated his bio after Walz's rank came under scrutiny. The website previously described him as a retired command sergeant major, but now vaguely says that he rose to that rank.
The phrasing is still ambiguous enough to suggest he retired as a command sergeant major. His bio does not mention that he retired as a master sergeant.
Walz's promotion to command sergeant major was conditional on completing additional coursework, the National Guard said. He retired in 2005 to focus on running for Congress, triggering his demotion.
At the time, his artillery unit was preparing to deploy to Iraq. Veterans who served under Walz have accused him of showing cowardice and claiming a rank he didn't earn.
"When your country calls, you are supposed to run into battle — not the other way,” retired command sergeant major Thomas Behrends told the New York Post Tuesday. “He ran away. It’s sad."
“He continued to say ‘retired command sergeant major’ for his political career,” he added. “When he used that … it was stolen valor.”
