On Wednesday, during “Anderson Cooper 360,” CNN political analyst Van Jones suggested that Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) may have been “careless with his wording” regarding his military service.
Walz came under fire after he was exposed for lying about his rank and military record. The Democrat governor lied that he had fought in a war while he served in the military.
Jones, while speaking on CNN, urged his campaign to clean up the false comments and move on.
“They should clean it up. It’s conceivable that he’s been loose with his language or said stuff,” Jones said. “People are human beings on these campaign trails but now he’s running for a major position. If he needs to clean it up, clean it up. The reality is if he said one or two things that turned out to be maybe a little bit sloppy, fix it. Because he’s got a gazillion people willing to stand up for his character. He’s got gay students who are willing to stand up for his character. He’s got people he served with who are willing to stand up for his character. If this comes down to a character contest between this ticket and Donald Trump, we’re going to win 50 states. Let’s just get this cleaned up and move on.”
CNN'S VAN JONES: Tim Walz has been "loose with his language" in lying about his National Guard service — and encourages him to "clean it up."
Walz isn't fit for office — and neither is Kamala!#StolenValor pic.twitter.com/jtaZZlGj6Q— ⚜️💎 Queen Katerina💎⚜️ (@QueenDarbyy) August 8, 2024
Jones made the comments while responding to former deputy communications director for Trump’s 2016 campaign, Bryan Lanza, who insisted that Walz’s record is fair for criticism.
“He’s leaning very much into it, but listen, it brings a lot of issues,” Lanza said. “I’ll tell you why. There’s a photo of him, a 2004 photo of him, where he refers to himself as an Enduring Freedom veteran for Kerry. The problem is the military, the Department of Defense does not qualify him as someone who is a recipient of an Enduring Freedom title. So either he misrepresented himself to run for office or the correction is now. He can’t have it both ways. He can’t claim he served in combat and then 20 years later say, ‘Oh it’s just no big deal.’ It goes to character. And that’s a problem for the campaign. The fact that we’re talking about it and more and more people are talking about it, it’s not what Kamala Harris wants to be talking about.”
WATCH: CNN’s Van Jones blasts Kamala Harris’s VP pick Tim Walz, says he was “loose with his language” about his military service.
Yikes… when a Democrat loses CNN.
Bottom Line: Walz lied about his military service for his own personal gain. pic.twitter.com/mQ9QRZ0zqo
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) August 8, 2024
