WATCH: Resurfaced Clip Shows Nancy Pelosi Falsely Praising Tim Walz For His 'Battlefield' Service

On Thursday, a resurfaced clip from a press conference on February 16, 2007 showed then-Rep. Tim Walz (D-MN) thanked then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for praising him as a "battlefield" veteran despite the 24-year National Guard veteran having never served in a war zone. The clip's resurfacing comes after Walz has been facing accusations of "stolen valor" after repeatedly being caught lying about the rank he retired at and leaving his troops to deploy to Iraq without their senior enlisted officer in 2005.

"He will speak for himself, but I want him to know how much we all appreciate his service to our country, whether it's in the classroom or on the battlefield," Pelosi said about the recently elected lawmaker, as reported by The Washington Free Beacon. After being introduced, Walz took the podium and thanked Pelosi for the introduction, failing to correct her characterization of him as serving on a battlefield. "Well, thank you, Madam Speaker, and thank you to the leadership here," Walz said as he took the podium. The false claim became even more egregious when C-SPAN, which covered the presser, described Walz as an "Afghanistan War Veteran."

Walz has repeatedly played fast and loose with his military record, falsely claiming in a recorded message to the 34th Infantry Batallion that he retired as a Command Sergeant Major. However, he did not complete the required coursework for the rank and subsequently was demoted back to an E-8 Master Sergeant by the Army National Guard upon his retirement in May 2005. 

The vice presidential candidate has also faced criticism for claiming to have participated in Operation Enduring Freedom, the military operation that encompasses operations in Afghanistan. The then-congressman endorsed a book in 2008, "Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way," that claimed that he served in Afghanistan despite Walz never setting foot on the Asian continent during his National Guard service. His only overseas deployment as a member of the Minnesota National Guard took place in 2003, when he was sent to help support Operation Enduring Freedom from a military base in Vicenza, Italy.

In addition to the multiple instances where Walz or others claimed that he was a combat veteran, Gov. Walz has been heavily criticized by those who served with him for his actions at the end of his military career. Retired Command Sergeant Major Thomas Behrends of the Minnesota National Guard has been the most outspoken critic of Walz who, in 2018, during Walz's first gubernatorial run, accused the former National Guardsman of "betraying" the country.

"In early 2005, a warning order was issued to the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion, which included the position he was serving in, to prepare to be mobilized for active duty for a deployment to Iraq," Command Sergeant Major Behrends explained. "On May 16th, 2005, he quit, betraying his country, leaving the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its Soldiers hanging; without its senior Non-Commissioned Officer, as the battalion prepared for war." 

WATCH:

FLASHBACK: Tim Walz thanked Nancy Pelosi at a press conference in 2007 in which she said while introducing him that "we appreciate his service on the battlefield."

CSPAN then identified Walz as an "Afghanistan veteran." pic.twitter.com/6HaKNyfKsf

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 9, 2024

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