In the latest attempt to undermine Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, some right-wing media figures have spread a decontextualized clip of the governor and used it to accuse him of stolen valor by claiming that he was pretending to have served in Afghanistan. This isn’t the first time right-wing media have resorted to lobbing weak attacks at Walz since he was announced as the Democratic nominee for vice president, with previous accusations ranging from trivial to extreme.
Andrea Austria / Media Matters
Research/Study
Right-wing personalities spread misleading clip of Tim Walz discussing a congressional trip to Afghanistan
Written by Gideon Taaffe
Published
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A misleading clip has been spreading amidst continued efforts to attack Walz’s military record
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- A video of Walz spread online in which Walz said, “When I was in Afghanistan, you know what our troops were worried about? They were worried about their families’ health care and they were worried about their pensions.” [Twitter/X, 8/31/24]
- The clip comes from a 2012 speech given at the American Legion and features Walz discussing a trip he made to Afghanistan while in Congress. During his introduction, Walz was described as having recently “made a trip to visit our service members overseas” and having been “taken aback by the thrust of his discussions” with troops. [YouTube, 2/28/12]
- Right-wing media have previously attacked Walz for allegedly misrepresenting his military service and claimed that Walz suggested he’d been deployed to Afghanistan. Walz has not claimed to have been deployed to Afghanistan and said he misspoke about his military service after right-wing media attacked him for referring to guns he “carried in war,” admitting that his “grammar’s not always correct.” [Media Matters, 8/7/24; CBS, 8/24/24; CNN, 8/29/24]
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Right-wing media attacked Walz based on the clip
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- Fox News host Laura Ingraham posted the clip, saying, “Something deeply amiss here.” She posted: “Was this Tim Walz’s pesky grammar problem again that made him tell a crowd ‘when I was in Afghanistan’? Something deeply amiss here.” [Twitter/X, 9/1/24]
- Infowars’ Alex Jones claimed the clip was evidence that Walz was “caught in serious stolen valor yet again.” He posted on social media: “Caught in serious stolen valor yet again. There is now more than 20 cases of Tampon Tim claiming he was in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq when he never even traveled to either country.” [Twitter/X, 9/1/24]
- Conspiracy theorist Dinesh D’Souza falsely claimed Walz is “the man who was never in Afghanistan.” D’Souza added that Walz is “a stolen valor involving a habitual liar.” [Twitter/X, 9/1/24]
- Popular right-wing social media account Catturd posted, “This stolen valor lowlife can’t stop lying about everything.” [Twitter/X, 9/1/24]
- Right-wing social media influencer Ian Miles Cheong falsely presented the clip as evidence that Walz had claimed “he fought in Afghanistan,” even though Walz made no such claim in the clip. Cheong added: “He never fought in Afghanistan. He did not misspeak. He lied.” [Twitter/X, 9/1/24]
- MAGA account Nicholas Kruge spread the video, falsely claiming Walz “was NEVER in Afghanistan!” [Twitter/X, 8/31/24]
- Far-right conspiracy theorist Ann Vandersteel shared the video and wrote: “Is this that famous grammar error that this POS was talking about?” [Twitter/X, 9/1/24]
- Infowars host Chase Geiser posted the clip and called for Walz to be “prosecuted” over lying. Geiser posted: “Was this bad grammar too, @Tim_Walz, when you lied about being in Afghanistan? You seriously need to be prosecuted wtf.” [Twitter/X, 8/31/24]
- Right-wing social media personality Amuse: “When Tim Walz claimed to have served in combat in Afghanistan it wasn't a grammar issue - it was stolen valor.” [Twitter/X, 9/1/24]