Walz heavily implies that he had personal experience of PTSD from a deployment to Afghanistan
Newly resurfaced video from a hearing in 2008 shows Minnesota Governor Tim Walz implying heavily that he suffered PTSD from deployment to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Walz was speaking to the family of a Gold Star veteran at the House Veterans Affairs Committee on Veterans and Mental Health when he made remarks that suggested he had personal experience of PTSD after serving in Operation Enduring Freedom in 2004 with the National Guard.
“I can tell you this, having been one of those that came back. We were in support of OEF [Operation Enduring Freedom]… when we came back, they showed us the horse whisperer and told us to be nice when we went home. And that was the extent of it. That was in 2004.”
BREAKING: In newly obtained tape, then-Rep. Tim Walz tells a gold-star family during hearing on PTSD that he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2004 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, and says he and his troops suffering from mental health issues were “shown the horse… pic.twitter.com/mUzrJJR10S
— Bad Hombre (@joma_gc) August 10, 2024
Since Walz became Kamala Harris’s presumptive running-mate, there has been intense scrutiny of his service record. Walz has been accused of “stolen valor” for making misleading statements about his rank and operational deployments. Walz never took part in Operation Enduring Freedom, the name for US operations directly in and above Afghan territory, but was posted to Italy with the National Guard in a support role. He has also been criticized for retiring from the National Guard in order to avoid a deployment to an actual warzone, Iraq.
This new footage of Walz apparently misleading the public about his service was jumped on by social-media users, including Donald Trump Jr.
“Walz implies that he is suffering from PTSD from serving in the Afghanistan war…Except he never deployed to Afghanistan or any other combat zone. This is the definition of STOLEN VALOR for political gain,” Don Jr. tweeted.
Elon Musk also commented, in his laconic style, on the original video: “Wow.”
“This dude was milking that lie for all it was worth,” replied Juanita Broderick. “He should have to apologize to that gold star family.”
In a subsequent tweet, Don Jr coined a new slogan for the Harris campaign: “Harris-Walz 2024: Stole proposals and stolen valor!” By “stolen proposal,” Don Jr. was referring to the Vice President’s new initiative of “no tax on tips,” which Donald Trump had been touting for months before.
