CNN’s Keilar: Walz Didn’t Carry in War Like He Said, But Attacks on Him ‘Offensive’ and ‘Diminish’ Veterans

On Friday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” co-host Brianna Keilar — who, on Thursday, stated that 2024 Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance’s (R-OH) actual title “kind of gives you a different impression” that he saw combat and thus, he might be “an imperfect messenger” to criticize 2024 Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz (D) — said that “the Trump campaign is swiftboating Tim Walz. Attacks on JD Vance’s service are also offensive.” And “These kinds of attacks from 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 in harm’s way, because the military is made largely of JD Vances and Tim Walzs.”

Keilar said, “Informed observers connected to politics or the military, myself included, have noted that the Trump campaign is swiftboating Tim Walz. Attacks on JD Vance’s service are also offensive. JD Vance served honorably in Iraq, a combat zone, where anything can happen and frequently does. As he said in his book, he was ‘lucky to escape any real fighting.’ That doesn’t make his service less than. Lucky he says, and luck is often what makes the difference in a combat zone or even a training mission that today is not your day. In a country where so few shoulder the burden, military service should not be a liability. It should be an asset. And despite our recent years as a country at war, many servicemembers haven’t seen combat. That doesn’t make them or their service less admirable or less necessary, nor does retiring from the National Guard after 24 years. These kinds of attacks from 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 in harm’s way, because the military is made largely of JD Vances and Tim Walzs. There are two veterans on these presidential tickets, two enlisted veterans at that. They have unique insight into what America’s men and women in the armed forces and their families have been through and need, and shouldn’t that be the focus?”

She continued, “This is a presidential race, for commander-in-chief. And so often, that candidate or their running mate has never personally served, even as they vie to make decisions about sending people into dangerous situations. The fact that this year they do matters to a lot of people. It matters to me, in a family where we’re raising two boys who idolize their dad’s military service, two boys who are significantly more likely to serve because their dad did. And if they choose that path, it matters to have someone at the table who knows what that sacrifice means.”

Keilar then interviewed Maj. Shawn Haney (Ret.), who was in charge of Vance during his tenure. Haney stated, “I would be the very first one, if I thought he was even doing a little bit of embellishment or exaggeration — and he is not — I would be the first one to tell him. And then I’d be happy to tell you that as well.”

Later, Keilar acknowledged that “Walz has said that he carried weapons of war into war. He did not.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett