Democratic senator: Walz didn't abandon his troops, he had an 'obligation' to run for office

Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.) defended Minnesota Governor Tim Walz allegedly misrepresenting his service in the state's National Guard and for leaving his unit as it was preparing to deploy to Iraq.

While Walz submitted his retirement package prior to the unit receiving the official orders to Iraq, he knew ahead of time of the possibility as evidenced by his then-congressional campaign press release about the matter.

"Do you think Governor Walz needs to clarify, explain, or correct any of what he‘s said and his past campaigns have said about his military service?” CNN host Kate Bolduan asked Reed, who is the chairman of the Senate's Armed Services Committee.

"I think Governor Walz has been very clear about his service as a member of the Minnesota National Guard. I think what has happened is that the Republicans have seized upon anecdotal evidence to attack the record of someone who served with distinction," Reed said.

Walz did not deploy to a combat zone.

"But what they’ve done is they‘ve exaggerated and mischaracterized all — several things. One, he retired from the military long before his unit was alerted to go to Iraq," he continued. "He was not avoiding Iraq. In fact, what he was doing was preparing to run for Congress to assume another public period, another public service obligation that is consistent with this whole life as a National Guardsman, as a teacher, as someone who is a community leader."

Reed went on to compare the criticisms Walz has received the past few days to the criticisms John Kerry faced about his service in the Vietnam War during the 2004 presidential election.

"It‘s a Republican tactic and it‘s demeaning, I think, to their campaign to try to insinuate that the governor is less than a patriotic and dedicated, selfless servant in the military and in the Congress," Reed said.

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In yet another example of Walz seemingly giving a false impression of his military service, during a press conference in 2007, Walz thanked then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi after she introduced him with "we appreciate his service on the battlefield." Walz did not deploy to a combat zone, and he did not correct Pelosi. He also did not correct her when she said he was a command sergeant major, as he did not complete the requirements to retain the rank when he retired early. C-SPAN then identified Walz as an "Afghanistan veteran."