Walz, a former congressman and now the current Minnesota governor, has come under intense scrutiny after he was chosen as the vice presidential running mate for Kamala Harris.
Out of all the controversies being scrutinized, his military service is at the top of the list for many people who are alleging "stolen valor." Now his views on the Holocaust are being criticized, too.
“Tim Walz is something of a chameleon,” Josh Hammer, an editor-at-large at Newsweek and a show host, said on American Family Radio Tuesday.
Walz said the things a Democrat running in a moderate district needs to say to get elected to Congress, Hammer told show host Jenna Ellis that, but once he became the state’s governor, he became much more different in a way that alarms conservatives.
“He was elected to Congress from a center to center-right district in Minnesota," Hammer recalled. "Back when he was there, he spouted all the platitudes that you would expect someone in that district to spout, not just on the Israel issue but also on the Second Amendment."
Walz was even endorsed by the NRA at some point, Hammer said.
Sgt. Walz and his 'weapons of war'
As a congressman, Walz said the right things on Israel, on gun rights, on law and order, on illegal immigration and more, Hammer said.
Walz didn’t always say the right thing about his military record, however, such as his claim of experiencing combat overseas and repeatedly claiming he retired from the Minnesota National Guard as a top-ranked command sergeant major.
Walz, in a 2018 video, touted his voting record on the Second Amendment then said, “We can research the impacts of gun violence. We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war.”
The Harris campaign said Walz “misspoke” before trying to turn attention to Republicans’ support for gun rights.
“In making the case why weapons of war should never be on our streets or in our classrooms, the Governor misspoke,” the Harris campaign said in a statement to NBC News. “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.”
Members from Walz’ Minnesota National Guard unit posted a letter to Facebook in 2018 that said Walz retired from the Guard after learning his unit would deploy to Iraq in 2005.
The Minnesota National Guard disputed Walz’ account of his service, as stated on the state’s official website, telling Just the News that Walz retired as master sergeant “because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeant’s Major Academy.”
A soldier who does not complete the necessary coursework is demoted, according to regulations.
Then-Congressman Walz included his command sergeant major rank on a "Congressional Challenge Coin," a coin some lawmakers create to tell their biography, The Daily Wire reported.
Running for Congress, running from combat
In a related interview, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania) told the Washington Watch program Monday the real issue is Walz’ willingness to mislead about his role and rank in the national guard.
Perry, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot, flew 44 combat missions in Iraq. What Walz has done is much more serious than a public speaking stumble, Perry told show host Jody Hice.
“In the public view oftentimes, we say things that we didn’t necessarily mean, spur of the moment when it gets heated, but this is not misspeaking. This has been done over years and years of claiming his status as a retired sergeant major when he really wasn’t a retired sergeant major,” he said.
“He was serving in uniform and willing to come and accept the accolades that come from the honorable service in uniform, certainly willing to accept the pay, but when it came to actually going down range, going to the combat zone, suddenly he had to retire because he had to run for Congress. He couldn’t be found,” Perry continued.
The sudden retirement of Walz, in the role of sergeant major, created a great disruption for his unit in a time of need, Perry said.
“When you’re a sergeant major, you’re the top enlisted person in the unit, and so your unit is dependent upon your leadership over a long period of time," Perry said. "They get used to you, you get used to them. You understand where each other comes from, and soldiers fight the way they train. You take one component out of it, and it really has a grave circumstance for the unit heading into combat.”
Doug Julin served with Walz as a fellow command sergeant major in the Minnesota National Guard. Julin told CNN last week Walz lied to him then went behind his back to retire after learning their unit was deploying to Iraq.
Holocaust just another genocide event
According to Hammer, Gov. Walz has some troubling views on the Holocaust, too, as he leads a state with a significant Jewish presence but also one of the nation’s largest Muslim populations.
Hammer, who is Jewish, said Walz is no friend to Israel.
Opinions are split on Walz’ views for how the Holocaust should be taught to school children.
As an educator he took the approach that that nothing about the Holocaust distinguished it from other genocidal atrocities in world history.
In his master’s thesis on the Holocaust and genocide education, Walz took the position that the “Jewish Holocaust” should be taught “in the greater context of human rights abuses” rather than a unique event.
His position to treat the Holocaust like the Armenian genocide and the Rwandan genocide was controversial among Holocaust scholars, The Times of Israel reported.
Despite that controversy, several former Mankato West High School students spoke favorably of Walz to The Times. One of them, who is Jewish, said Walz helped her after she complained about a Holocaust class assignment that required her to wear a yellow star.
That compassionate teacher appears nothing like the Walz discovered this week by The Washington Examiner in an exclusive story. It found 2018 footage of Walz, then running for governor, praising Asad Zaman, a controversial Islamic imam.
“I am a teacher, so when I see a master teacher, I know it," Walz said. "Over the time we’ve spent together, one of the things I’ve had the privilege of is seeing the things in life through the eye of a master teacher, to try and get the understanding."
After the imam praised the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel, the Harris-Walz campaign is now trying to distance itself from Zaman.
Hammer, who has had personal experiences with death camp survivors, did not give Walz a pass in his AFR interview.
“From perspective," he said, "I look at Tim Walz and say, ‘You are a disgusting pig, and I want nothing to do with you.’”
