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“Walz’ leadership on behalf of his fellow veterans when he was in the US House of Representatives is notable at a time when our all-volunteer force continues to struggle to recruit,” Allison Jaslow, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said in a statement praising the choice of a veteran to be vice presidential nominee. “How we care for our veterans is as important to our national security as how we care for our troops, and Walz has a record to prove that he understands that imperative.”
As the top Democrat on the committee, Walz was a chief adversary for the Trump administration’s to order the deployment, a charge he denied.
“It is time to rebuild. Rebuild the city, rebuild our justice system, and rebuild the relationship between law enforcement and those they’re charged to protect,” Walz said in a statement when he announced the activation.
He also activated the Guard to protect the Minnesota state Capitol in January 2021 amid fears that Trump supporters could riot at state houses as they did at the US Capitol that month. And he’s used the Guard for missions that are more routine for the service, such as to help after heavy flooding earlier this summer.
As news broke Tuesday of Walz’s selection, he quickly won praise from other Democratic veterans.
“Having a person who wore the uniform and who deployed around the world adds to the ticket someone who can connect with veterans and military families in a way that no one but a veteran can,” Jon Soltz, chairman of liberal political action committee VoteVets, said in a statement.
Steve Beynon contributed to this story.