Tim Walz Blames Military Service Embellishment on ‘Grammar,’ Uproar Ensues

Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz was asked in his joint interview with CNN on Thursday about his military service and a previous comment he made about carrying weapons “in war”, responding in part, “…my wife the English teacher told me my grammar is not always correct.”
CNN’s Dana Bash asked Walz, who spoke alongside Vice President and presidential nominee Kamala Harris, if he misspoke while saying that he carried a weapon “in war.” Walz responded, “I said, we were talking about in this case—this was after a school shooting—the ideas of carrying these weapons of war and my wife the English teacher told me my grammar is not always correct. But again, if it’s not this, it’s an attack on my children for showing love for me, or it’s an attack on my dog.”
Walz added, “The one thing I’ll never do is I’ll never demean another member’s service in any way. I never have and I never will.” Walz was never in combat, and the Harris campaign previously commented that he “misspoke” when saying “in war.”
Newsweek has reached out to the Harris, Walz campaign via email Thursday night for comment.
After Walz’s comment to Bash, an uproar on social media ensued. Conservative radio host Clay Travis posted the moment on X, formerly Twitter, adding, “Tim Walz asked about lying and claiming he carried weapons in war said, ‘My grammar’s not always correct.’ Holy crap. He’s a moron. He’s had a month to come up with a response and this is it?!”
Riley Gaines, former NCAA swimmer and outspoken transgender policy critic, said on X, “This lower third is hilarious Falsify claiming you fought in war is just a silly grammar mistake.”
Mike Davis, ally to former President Donald Trump, also reacted on X, “Wow. Tim Walz is raising the ‘grammar defense’ to charges of stolen valor. Did his ‘poor grammar’ also lead him to lying—repeatedly and for years—about his military rank? Fraud.”
Former adviser to Trump, Stephen Miller, posted about the moment between Bash and Walz saying, “WALZ REFUSES TO RETRACT STOLEN VALOR.”
LibsofTikTok X account also said, “Tim Walz blames his stolen valor claims on grammar. Literally what?? He’s been lying about this for DECADES.”
Walz’s military rank has also been under intense scrutiny since being chosen as Harris’ vice presidential nominee. Walz served in Minnesota’s National Guard for 24 years, reaching the rank of command sergeant major, but that rank was later removed due to the failure to complete needed coursework. Walz’s title was then reduced to master sergeant.
Meanwhile, Thursday’s interview came amid a bipartisan wave of pressure for Harris to sit down with media since announcing her intent to run for president. Republicans, most notably vice presidential candidate JD Vance, have blasted Harris for running a “basement campaign” and for not doing an interview, saying she “can’t explain” her record.
Harris previously told reporters while campaigning on August 8, “I’ve talked to my team. I want us to get an interview scheduled before the end of the month.” Harris also faced fierce pushback for doing her first interview as the Democratic nominee alongside Walz.
Former George W. Bush official and CNN contributor Scott Jennings called it “weak sauce” for the campaign to do a joint interview, saying on Tuesday: “The fact that they [Harris’ campaign personnel] don’t have enough confidence in her to let her sit herself, the actual top of the ticket and do a single interview. In fact, I think the hand wringing and the gyrations over this over the last month show a troubling lack of confidence in her political ability, which also makes you wonder as a voter ‘what kind of president would you be if this kind of a small-time decision, can we do an interview or not, what does that look like for your decision-making process?'”
Harris and Walz have both enjoyed a slew of favorable polls this week, notably on the heels of the Democratic National Convention and in key battleground states. In a Fox News Poll out on Wednesday, Harris beats Trump in Arizona among registered voters by 1 point, in Georgia and Nevada by two points, while Trump is ahead in North Carolina by 1 point. The margin of error for this poll is 3 percentage points.