U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) continued to dig at Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over his spurious recollections of his military career and time as a football coach.
In recent months, Walz has battled speculation that he has embellished details of his time in the Minnesota and Nebraska National Guards. Republican lawmakers and commentators have also heavily criticized Walz for opting to retire less than five months before his unit deployed to Iraq.
The Kamala Harris campaign initially boasted of Walz as a "retired Command Sergeant Major" in his online bio. He briefly held that rank but was demoted to master sergeant before retiring. The Harris campaign has since amended Walz's bio.
Walz also referred to "weapons of war, that I carried in war" in 2018, despite never having been deployed to a war zone. The Harris campaign brushed the comments off as Walz merely misspeaking.
Walz and Tuberville have previously traded barbs over Walz's stint as a former defensive coordinator at Mankato West High School in Mankato, Minn., dubbing himself the "anti-Tuberville." Tuberville later laughed off Walz's attempted comparisons as a coach since Tuberville had a lengthy and successful NCAA career.
After Walz and Harris spoke at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago this week, Tuberville has re-upped his criticism of the pair, once again blasting Walz for his "phony" claims about himself.
"Everything about Tim Walz and Kamala Harris is phony," Tuberville said. "Kamala is flip-flopping on every issue and pretending to be a moderate despite her record as the former most liberal member in the Senate. Walz has intentionally lied about both his military rank and his coaching position. He did not earn the ranking of Command Sergeant Major as he claims — and he was never a head coach. In fact, the weak character he exemplified when he abandoned his unit before deployment to Iraq is the exact opposite of what any coach I know would instill in student-athletes. I wouldn't let him anywhere near my locker room and we sure don't want him anywhere near the White House."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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