Amid Attacks on Walz's Military Service, Campaign Changes Bio

Amid attacks from the right regarding his military credentials, Tim Walz's biography has been modified on Kamala Harris' presidential campaign website. Sites including Politico are calling the change a "tweak," while Fox News says the campaign is "walk[ing] back" Walz's bio. Now, rather than referring to Walz as a "retired command sergeant major" with the Army National Guard, the site says Harris' running mate once served at the command sergeant major rank. That's because, while he did serve at that rank, he did not retire at that rank. He retired before completing some of the requirements for the rank, including coursework with the US Army Sergeants Major Academy, so he was reverted back to master sergeant rank when he left the military after 24 years of service.

The Minnesota National Guard's director of operations explained it like so: "From a benefits perspective, the Army retired him as a master sergeant. But, according to National Guard records, he was a command sergeant major technically when deployed [to Europe]. The lower rank was as a result of benefit requirements and a technicality." Donald Trump's running mate, JD Vance, has been accusing Walz of lying about his military service, calling it "stolen valor garbage." He accused Walz of retiring to avoid being deployed to Iraq, and has also accused Walz of claiming to have seen combat when he actually never did.