CNN host Dana Bash pressed Minnesota Governor Tim Walz over verifiable lies he has told regarding his service record in what was the first interview for Vice President Kamala Harris since she became the de-facto Democratic presidential nominee nearly 40 days ago. Bash also pressed Harris over a number of recent flip-flops on border and energy policy.
Governor Walz has been under in recent weeks due to questions surrounding his military service record. Soldiers from his unit with the Minnesota National Guard have questioned the circumstances surrounding his retirement just before a deployment to Iraq, and have noted that he has misrepresented his rank while on the campaign trail.
The Minnesota National Guard later confirmed that Walz has misrepresented his rank.
Walz has also claimed to have “carried weapons of war,” during a war despite never having deployed to a combat zone.
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“You said that you carried weapons in war, but you have never deployed actually in a war zone. A campaign official said that you misspoke. Did you?” Bash asked.
Walz refused to answer the question directly, instead directing the conversation to the topic of mass shootings. “Well, first of all, I’m incredibly proud. I’ve done 24 years of wearing the uniform of this country. Equally proud of my service in a public school classroom, whether it’s Congress or the governor. My record speaks for itself,” the Minnesota governor said.
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“But I think people are coming to get to know me. I speak like they do. I speak candidly. I wear my emotions on my sleeves and I speak especially passionately about our children being shot in schools and around guns. So I think people know me. They know who I am. They know where my heart is and again, my record has been out there for over 40 years to speak for itself,” he continued.
Bash followed up by reiterating her question on the “weapons of war” controversy. “Did you misspeak as the campaign has said?” the CNN host asked. “Yeah, I said we were talking about, in this case, this was after a school shooting, the ideas of carrying these weapons of war,” Walz replied.
Bash also pressed Walz over his past DUI arrest and inconsistencies regarding his use of IVF.
Elsewhere in the interview, Bash asked Vice President Harris about her past statements on energy, which include support for a ban on fracking and support for the Green New Deal.
“Do you still want to ban fracking?” Bash asked.
“No, and I made that clear on the debate stage in 2020. That I would not ban fracking. As vice president, I did not ban fracking. As president, I will not ban fracking,” Harris replied.
The CNN host followed up by pointing out that Harris vowed to ban fracking while campaigning for president in 2019. “In 2019, I believe, at a town hall, you said, you were asked, would you commit to implementing a federal ban on fracking on your first day in office? And you said,’ there’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking. So yes.’ So it changed in that campaign?” Bash asked.
“In 2020, I made very clear where I stand. We are in 2024 and I’ve not changed that In 2020, I made very clear where I stand,” the vice president replied, once again disavowing her previous position.
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