Harris campaign dropped ball on 1 basic task with Walz rollout, Dem and GOP strategists agree
Walz has faced accusations of misleading the public on his military record
By Michael Lee Fox News
Published August 13, 2024 1:13pm EDT
The Harris campaign did not properly prepare for potential attacks on the vice president’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, according to political strategists from both sides of the aisle.
"The Walz military record story was clearly a failure of ‘reverse’ opposition research by the Harris campaign," Democrat strategist Julian Epstein told Fox News Digital.
The comments come as Walz has continued to face scrutiny over his military record, with critics accusing the vice presidential candidate of "stolen valor" for seemingly misleading statements he has made about his service.
Critics have claimed that language Walz has used when describing his time in the service had misleadingly suggested that he served in a war zone, including one statement in which he said he would like to ban the kind of weapons he had "carried in war," despite having never been deployed to a combat zone during his 24 years of service.
In response to the controversy, the Harris campaign said Walz "misspoke" when making the "carried in war" remarks.
"In making the case for why weapons of war should never be on our streets or in our classrooms, the Governor misspoke," campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt told the media. "He did handle weapons of war and believes strongly that only military members trained to carry those deadly weapons should have access to them, unlike Donald Trump and JD Vance who prioritize the gun lobby over our children."
But the "carried in war" remarks were not the only quotes to raise eyebrows, with critics accusing Walz of being misleading when he boasted of deploying "in support" of Operation Enduring Freedom, a deployment that was actually to Italy and not to Afghanistan.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/harris-campaign-dropped-ball-one-basic-task-walz-rollout-dem-gop-strategists-agree
