Jesse Ventura defends Walz against Vance’s attacks on his military service

Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura (I) defended current Gov. Tim Walz’s (D) record amid attacks from Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) regarding his military service.

“I think Vance is doing a disservice to the United States Marine Corps because I know a lot of great Marines, and Marines show respect,” Ventura said Saturday on MSNBC. “That’s the one thing you get out of a Marine is respect, and Vance ought to look in the mirror and behave like a Marine.”

Walz served more than two decades in the Army National Guard. Vance served in the Marines.

Walz, who was named Vice President Harris’s running mate earlier this week, has been attacked for leaving the military before his unit was deployed, though men who served under him have said his decision came before they received the deployment orders.

Vance went after Walz’s record this week.

“I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war?” Vance said on the campaign trail in Michigan. “He has not spent a day in a combat zone … I’d be ashamed if I was him and lied about my military service like he did.”

Ventura, a former professional wrestler who served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, shut down the retirement accusation from Vance, saying anyone can “retire when you want to” after serving for 20 years.

In a statement to The Hill, Vance’s spokesperson Luke Schroeder said Walz has been “caught red handed lying about going to war.” 

“To make matters worse, after a week of nonstop lies from the Kamala Harris campaign claiming otherwise, a command sergeant major senior to Walz has now confirmed he knew he was being sent to Iraq months before he decided to abandon his men so he could run for Congress,” Schroeder said. “There’s nothing more insulting to veterans who do answer the call to serve in a combat zone than those who engage in stolen valor to benefit their own political career.”

Democratic veterans have come to defend Walz’s record, including Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), who asked if Vance forgot what the Marines taught him about respect.

Ventura also praised Walz as a unique governor, saying that 24 hours after Walz was elected to the statewide position in 2018, he called Ventura to pick his brain and get the perspective of someone who wasn’t a Democrat of how he could best govern the state.

“No other governor’s ever done that, Republican or Democrat, but Tim Walz did, and that’s what showed me Tim Walz [is] the kind of guy who’s out for success,” Ventura said.

Walz legalized adult-use cannabis in Minnesota last year, which Ventura attempted to legalize in the state when he served as governor. He said Walz wanted him to be there to celebrate the legislation since he was the one who started the idea.

“That’s the kind of person Tim Walz is,” he said.

Ventura was previously floated as a running mate for Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earlier this year. Kennedy ultimately chose California lawyer Nicole Shanahan.

Updated at 10:38 p.m. EST.