Washington Free Beacon editor-in-chief Eliana Johnson was forced to correct PBS News Hour host Amna Nawaz on Friday after the latter claimed “there’s no evidence” Democratic VP nominee Tim Walz has embellished his military resume. Johnson correctly pointed out that, on the contrary, “there’s no question” he has “padded and inflated his resume.”
Nawaz began by doing the same dishonest trick that MSNBC’s Ali Velshi did, by playing a clip of Walz’s GOP counterpart, JD Vance, accusing him of abandoning his unit prior to an Iraq deployment, but omitting the part where Vance also called out Walz for promoting gun control by comparing certain weapons he wants to ban to weapons he carried “in war,” despite never having been to war.
After the clip, a disappointed Nawaz turned to Johnson, who was again filling in for New York Times columnist David Brooks, “Eliana, this is so reminiscent of that swift-boating attack on John Kerry back in 2004. We know the same man is behind it. He's running the Trump campaign now, Chris LaCivita. Why run with these attacks when there's no evidence for what they're saying right now?”
Johnson countered, “Well, I do think there's some evidence for what they're saying, but let's look at it in two parts. One is the issue on the merits, where I think there's no question Tim Walz has padded and inflated his resume. And the second is— ”
Nawaz interrupted, “In what way specifically?”
Rewinding a bit, Johnson recalled, “Well, JD Vance mentioned that the timing of his retirement is suspect, and I think it would take a little bit longer to talk about the timeline of that… He knew that they were going to be called up. He had gotten a warning that they were going to be called up, and he said in a press release for his campaign, if called up, I have a duty to serve. He didn't do that. It's clear he has — he's inflated this, and he's made it a part of his biography. By the way, this has been an issue in every single one of Walz's campaigns.”
Ultimately, Johnson believes that the issue won't matter much in the end because, unlike Kerry, Walz is merely the vice presidential nominee. Still, Nawaz turned to an even more upset Washington Post associate editor, Jonahtan Capehart, “Jonathan, please — your face. It says, ‘I don't know how to react.’”
Ignoring the “in war” falsehood, Walz referring to himself by the wrong rank, and everything Johnson just said, Capehart claimed, “It's a spurious charge. The man served his country for, what, 24 years? And, sure, this is a race between Trump and Harris. And if you're going to talk about military record and military service, Donald Trump has none. And so let's just put that to the side.
Capehart also remembered something he wanted to say earlier in the segment, “Vice President Harris is not afraid of Donald Trump, which is why I think she has been very effective on the trail in terms of reacting in the most minimal way possible to the racism and sexism and misogyny that he's been hurling at her since she got to the top of the ticket.”
As for News Hour and the question of Walz’s retirement, Nawaz’s colleague, Geoff Bennett, also claimed on Thursday that “there is no evidence” to support Vance’s claim, despite Walz’s superior claiming otherwise.
Here is a transcript for the August 9 show:
PBS News Hour
8/9/2024
7:32 PM ET
AMNA NAWAZ: Eliana, this is so reminiscent of that swift-boating attack on John Kerry back in 2004. We know the same man is behind it. He's running the Trump campaign now, Chris LaCivita.
Why run with these attacks when there's no evidence for what they're saying right now?
ELIANA JOHNSON: Well, I do think there's some evidence for what they're saying, but let's look at it in two parts. One is the issue on the merits, where I think there's no question Tim Walz has padded and inflated his resume. And the second is…
(Crosstalk)
JOHNSON: … his military resume.
NAWAZ: In what way specifically?
(Crosstalk)
JOHNSON: Well, JD Vance mentioned that the timing of his retirement is suspect, and I think it would take a little bit longer to talk about the timeline of that. But the…
(Crosstalk)
NAWAZ: He's alleging that he retired because his unit was being deployed.
JOHNSON: Right. He knew that they were going to be called up. He had gotten a warning that they were going to be called up, and he said in a press release for his campaign, if called up, I have a duty to serve. He didn't do that.
It's clear he has — he's inflated this, and he's made it a part of his biography. By the way, this has been an issue in every single one of Walz's campaigns. But, separately, I think there's a question of, how significant is this going to be down the road? You mentioned the swift-boat veterans.
Those attacks were effective, but they were levied against the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, John Kerry, back in 2004…
NAWAZ: We should say they were also discredited.
JOHNSON: … which is different. And so this race is not going to be won or lost based on attacks made on either JD Vance or Tim Walz.
It's going to be about Trump and the Harris/Biden record. So, I don't think they're — that this is actually likely to be a very significant issue down the line.
NAWAZ: Jonathan, please — your face. It says, “I don't know how to react.”
JONATHAN CAPEHART: It's a spurious charge. The man served his country for, what, 24 years? And, sure, this is a race between Trump and Harris. And if you're going to talk about military record and military service, Donald Trump has none. And so let's just put that to the side.
I remembered what I was going to say in that first — and the thing is, Vice President Harris is not afraid of Donald Trump, which is why I think she has been very effective on the trail in terms of reacting in the most minimal way possible to the racism and sexism and misogyny that he's been hurling at her since she got to the top of the ticket.
