CNN’s Brianna Keilar hits back at JD Vance after backlash: He ‘served honorably in Iraq’

CNN anchor Brianna Keilar appears to be walking back her jab at Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, insisting he “served honorably” after facing backlash for suggesting he embellished his military service .

“Informed observers connected to politics or the military, including myself, have noted that the Trump campaign is “fighting” Tim Walz. The attacks on JD Vance’s service are also offensive,” Keilar began a monologue Friday. “JD Vance served honorably in Iraq, a combat zone where anything can and often does happen. As he said in his book, he was, quote, ‘lucky to have escaped any real war.’ This does not make his service any less than. “Lucky,” he says. And luck is often what makes the difference in a combat zone or even a training mission. That today is not your day.”

“In a country where so few bear the burden, military service should not be a liability, it should be an asset,” she continued. “And despite the last few years as a country at war, many service members have not seen combat. This does not make them or their service any less admirable, or any less necessary. Not even retiring from the National Guard after 24 years. These kinds of attacks from the left or the right diminish the service of many others who have served honorably, who sacrifice time away from family, who put themselves in harm’s way because the military is made up mostly of JD Vances and Tim Walzs.

The liberal anchor marveled that “there are two veterans on these presidential tickets,” something that has been lacking in recent presidential elections.

“They have unique insight into what America’s men and women in the armed forces and their families have gone through and need.” And shouldn’t that be the focus?” Keilar asked. “This is a presidential race for the commander-in-chief. And so often, that candidate or candidates have never personally served, even as they struggle to make decisions about sending people into dangerous situations.

“The fact that they’re doing it this year means a lot to a lot of people. It matters to me. In a family where we’re raising two sons who idolize their father’s military service, two sons who are much more likely to serve because their father did it,” she added. “And if they choose that path, it’s important to have someone at the table who knows what that sacrifice means.”

On Thursday, Keilar speculated that Vance “may be an imperfect messenger” to criticize Walz.

“Because we have, as you presented it, as a war correspondent, what it was [Vance’s] title was,” Keilar told her CNN colleague Dana Bash. “But when you dig a little deeper into it, he was a public affairs specialist, someone who didn’t see combat, which of course the title ‘war correspondent’ gives you a different impression. So he may be the imperfect messenger for that.”

Vance slammed Keilar and CNN on social media.

“Brianna this is disgusting and you and your entire network should be ashamed of yourselves,” Vance wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “When I got the call to go to Iraq, I went. Tim Walz said he carried a gun in a fight. Is he? No. It was a lie.”

Vance told reporters Wednesday, “I served in a combat zone. I never said I saw a firefight myself, but I always told the truth about my Navy service. That’s the difference.”

CNN did not respond to Fox News Digital’s earlier request for comment.

Critics have pointed to an old video accidentally shared by the Harris campaign of Walz pushing for gun control, telling voters: “We can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in the war, are the only place those weapons are in.”

Ret. Command Sgt. Major Thomas Behrends, who said he was a member of Walz’s battalion, criticized the governor’s comments.

“For most people, that meant he was actually in combat, carrying a weapon in a combat zone and receiving combat pay and in a dangerous and hostile environment where he was being fired upon.” Behrends told Ingraham Angle on Wednesday.

A CNN correspondent even fact-checked Walz on Wednesday, stating that “there is no evidence that at any time Governor Walz was in a position to be shot, and some of his language could easily be seen to suggest that he was”.

Walz was never in an active war zone. He deployed with the Minnesota National Guard to Italy on Aug. 3, 2003, to support Operation Enduring Freedom, according to the Minnesota Guard. The battalion supported security missions in various locations in Europe and Turkey, according to the Guard, and Walz was stationed in Vicenza, Italy, until he returned to Minnesota in 2004. He was not deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Vance’s opponent has been at the center of a controversy since joining the Democratic party. Walz, who served in the Minnesota National Guard for 24 years, repeatedly referred to himself as a “retired command sergeant major,” which is incorrect.

According to the Minnesota National Guard, while Walz was serving as command sergeant major, “He retired as a Master Sergeant in 2005 for benefit purposes because he did not complete additional coursework at the US Army Sergeant Major Academy.”

On Thursday, the Harris campaign changed the language in Walz’s biography on their website after the dust settles. The bio originally said Walz was a “Retired Command Sergeant Major,” but was later updated to say he “served as Command Sergeant Major.”

Walz has also faced criticism for the timing of his retirement from military service over allegations that he did so earlier than planned to avoid deployment to Iraq.

Tom Schilling, a veteran who also said he served in the same battalion as Walz, said he “opened” his soldiers before deploying to Iraq in 2005.

“We all did what we had to do, we did the right thing,” Schilling said on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” on Wednesday. “What he did is dishonest. He left someone else to take his place. He just abandoned us.”

Harris’ campaign released a statement saying, “In his 24 years of service, the Governor carried, shot and trained others to use the weapons of war in countless ways. Governor Walz would never insult or undermine any American’s service to this country – in fact, he thanks Senator Vance for putting his life on the line for our country. It’s the American way.”