Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had not even been VP Kamala Harris’s running mate for 12 hours before MSNBC’s All In host Chris Hayes accused Republicans of “swift boating” him on Tuesday. On Wednesday, CNN’s Jim Acosta and Brianna Keilar followed suit by also turning the clock back to 2004 as they defended Walz from GOP criticism.
Hayes was displeased at anyone arguing Walz has a problematic past while supporting Donald Trump:
Some Republicans are talking about swift boating Walz because he left the National Guard back in 2005 rather than stay and deploy to Iraq though I'm not sure trashing an honorably discharged 24-year Army veteran, the highest ranking enlisted man ever to serve the United States Congress, if I'm not mistaken, later worked on the House Veteran Affairs Committee, I don't think that helps Donald Trump, whose own former staffers say he called American war veterans suckers and losers.
Hayes also turned into a humorless scold as he went after some conservatives for claiming Minnesota isn’t in the Midwest and might as well be considered Canada, “Republicans are going to find out, I think, that framing a gun-owning Midwest nice guy as a radical far-left commie ends up painting you into some really weird corners. Some conservatives, now in order to keep this whole shtick going, now claiming Minnesota just isn't real America. No, literally, the secretary of the Ohio Republican Party said 'Minnesota isn't even in the Midwest, it's basically Canada' which last I checked we have 50 states. National Review writer [Heather Wilhelm] who said Minnesota is ‘Canada lite’ ‘might as well be a different planet.’”
On Wednesday, Walz’s GOP counterpart, JD Vance, gave a press conference where he criticized Walz for retiring from the National Guard prior to his unit’s deployment to Iraq. He also took exception to Walz using his military service to justify calls for gun control by referencing weapons “I carried in war” despite having never been to war.
Vance’s comments were carried live on CNN Newsroom, but Acosta still turned to The Atlantic’s senior editor, Ron Brownstein, and recalled, “I mean, these attacks were going to come and they do remind me of when I covered the Kerry campaign back in 2004, the so-called swift boating of John Kerry was a key part of that campaign. Questioning his military service, even though John Kerry was a war hero. It does sound familiar these lines of attack.”
Like Hayes, Brownstein didn’t actually defend Walz, but instead tried to make the conversation about Trump, “A couple of big differences being Tim Walz is not the presidential nominee and Donald Trump is not really someone who can go around complaining about people dodging military service, right? I mean, that isn't really an effective line of comparison or argument for him.”
Later in the day, CNN News Central host Brianna Keilar didn’t understand what the big deal was, “We should also mention there's reporting that JD Vance did not see combat in his role. I would argue it doesn't matter. They both served. But what do you think about this, kind of, getting some swift boat vibes here.”
Like it’s 2004 again. “Getting some Swift boat vibes here.” CNN’s Brianna @brikeilarcnn trying to discredit criticism of Tim Walz by JD Vance. pic.twitter.com/db7cTBfetg
— Brent Baker 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@BrentHBaker) August 7, 2024
Sure, but Vance did deploy to Iraq and that is what he was talking about on Wednesday, which CNN, again, ignored.
Here is a transcript for the August 6 and 7 shows:
MSNBC All In With Chris Hayes
8/6/2024
8:44 PM ET
CHRIS HAYES: Who do you think comes out sounding more radical to you, at least? Some Republicans are talking about swift boating Walz because he left the National Guard back in 2005 rather than stay and deploy to Iraq though I'm not sure trashing an honorably discharged 24-year Army veteran, the highest ranking enlisted man ever to serve the United States Congress, if I'm not mistaken, later worked on the House Veteran Affairs Committee, I don't think that helps Donald Trump whose, own former staffers say he called American war veterans suckers and losers.
Republicans are going to find out, I think, that framing a gun-owning Midwest nice guy as a radical far-left commie ends up painting you into some really weird corners. Some conservatives, now in order to keep this whole shtick going, now claiming Minnesota just isn't real America. No, literally, the secretary of the Ohio Republican Party said “Minnesota isn't even in the Midwest, it's basically Canada” which last I checked we have 50 states. National Review writer who said Minnesota is “Canada lite” “might as well be a different planet.”
***
CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta
8/7/2024
10:37 AM ET
JIM ACOSTA: Yeah. Ron Bronstein, I mean, these attacks were going to come and they do remind me of when I covered the Kerry campaign back in 2004, the so-called swift boating of John Kerry was a key part of that campaign. Questioning his military service, even though John Kerry was a war hero. It does sound familiar these lines of attack.
RON BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, of course. A couple of big differences being Tim Walz is not the presidential nominee and Donald Trump is not really someone who can go around complaining about people dodging military service, right? I mean, that isn't really an effective line of comparison or argument for him.
***
CNN News Central
8/7/2024
1:05 PM ET
BRIANNA KEILAR: We should also mention there's reporting that JD Vance did not see combat in his role. I would argue it doesn't matter. They both served. But what do you think about this, kind of, getting some swift boat vibes here.
