CNN STATE OF THE UNION
8/11/24
9:09 AM
DANA BASH: And on the question of when he left the National Guard. He filed his election paperwork February 10, 2005. That was a month before the National Guard even announced that it was possible that they would deploy to Iraq and it ended up being two months. He retired two months before they actually got the paperwork.
JD VANCE: But on CNN last night, Dana, one of the people who was actually in charge of him, so they knew they were going to deploy to Iraq in February of 2004 so, or- excuse me, fall of 2004. So he knew he was going to Iraq, he decided to quit, to retire, whatever word you want to use…
BASH: Retire.
VANCE: …because- whatever. Because he wanted to run for Congress. He lied about that. He said that when he decided to retire, he did not know that he was going to Iraq. That is another untruth as even his senior military officer said. So again, I'm not criticizing the service, I'm criticizing the dishonesty. Dishonesty spoken in favor and for the purpose of political benefit. And I think that the most important thing here, Dana, is it goes to Kamala Harris’s judgment. Tim Walz is ultimately going to be the vice president. Kamala Harris is in great health. I'm sure she's going to be president if she wins for four or maybe even eight years. Why did Kamala Harris choose a person who has lied about their military service? I think that is a serious lapse in judgment and I don't want to hear from a campaign spokesperson of Kamala Harris. I want to hear Kamala Harris herself address what I just said.
BASH: You know, I've seen a lot of statements from veterans, including those you served with, saying it's just untoward to be criticizing somebody who served for 24 years.
VANCE: Dana, I'm not interested in the ad hominem. I've heard from a lot of veterans’ groups who criticize Tim Walz. The question is: he said he served in war and he didn't. That is a dishonesty. I really- I couldn't care less what one or the other person says about it. I care about what the truth is. The truth is that Tim Walz didn't tell the truth and importantly, Dana, this is about Kamala Harris's judgment. And I think that when you ask: why has Kamala Harris allowed the border to be wide open? Why has Kamala Harris supported policies that have promoted the increase in inflation? I think it goes to the heart of her judgment, and I think that that's what we should be talking about.
BASH: One last question. Donald Trump didn't serve in the military. He received a medical draft deferment for bone spurs to avoid serving in the Vietnam war, reportedly as a favor to his father. Do you find that shameful, too?
VANCE: I think that Donald Trump didn't serve in the military, but he didn't lie about it, Dana. I've known Donald Trump for a long time, he really honors veterans, he really honors me for my service…
BASH: You don't think he… so you think he had bone spurs?
VANCE: Donald Trump didn't lie about serving in the military. He didn't say that he went to Vietnam when he didn’t. This is the problem. I don't criticize anybody. Whether they served our country or not, I think it's honorable to serve, but obviously a lot of people have reasons for not serving. I criticize somebody for embellishing the record, for lying, saying : “I went to war”. Dana. Do you think that it's a problem that he said “I went to war”, but he didn't actually? That seems to be a problem to me.
BASH: Well, they've- they've corrected that. Let's move on to…
VANCE: They’ve corrected it by admitting that it’s a lie.
BASH: Let’s move on to another important issue to voters…(abortion)
