CNN's Brianna Keilar walks back JD Vance swipe following backlash: He 'served honorably in Iraq'

CNN anchor Brianna Keilar appears to be walking back her swipe against Trump 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, myself included, have noted that the Trump campaign is 'swiftboating' Tim Walz. Attacks on JD Vance's service are also offensive," Keilar began a monologue on Friday. "JD Vance served honorably in Iraq, a combat zone where anything can happen and frequently does. As he said in his book, he was, quote, ‘lucky to escape any real fighting.’ That doesn't make his service 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 shoulder the burden, military service should not be a liability, it should be an asset," she continued. "And despite our recent years as a country at war, many service members haven't seen combat. That doesn't make them or their service less admirable, or less necessary. Nor does retiring from the National Guard after 24 years. These kinds of attacks from the left or the right diminish the service of so many others who have served honorably, who sacrifice time away from family, who put themselves in harm's way because the military is made largely of JD Vances and Tim Walzs."

VANCE FIRES BACK AT ‘DISGUSTING’ CNN ANCHOR SUGGESTING HIS MILITARY SERVICE WAS EMBELLISHED AMID WALZ DISPUTE 

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

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

"The fact that this year they do matters to a lot of people. It matters to me. In a family where we're raising two boys who idolize their dad's military service, two boys who are significantly more likely to serve because their dad did," she added. "And if they choose that path, it matters to have someone at the table who knows what that sacrifice means."

JD VANCE ACCUSES TIM WALZ OF ‘LYING’ ABOUT MILITARY SERVICE: ‘STOLEN VALOR GARBAGE’

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

"Because we have, as you introduced him, as a combat correspondent, which was what [Vance's] title was," Keilar told her CNN colleague Dana Bash. "But when you dig a little deeper into that, he was a public affairs specialist, someone who did not see combat, which certainly the title ‘combat correspondent' kind of gives you a different impression. So he may be the imperfect messenger on that."

Vance knocked 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 war. Did he? No. It was a lie."

Vance told reporters Wednesday, "I served in a combat zone. I never said that I saw a firefight myself, but I've always told the truth about my Marine Corps service. That's the difference."

CNN did not respond to Fox News Digital's previous request for comment. 

Critics have put a spotlight on an old video incidentally shared by the Harris campaign of Walz pushing for gun control, telling voters, "We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at."

Ret. Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Behrends, who said he was a member of Walz's battalion, blasted the governor's comments.

"To most people, that would mean that he was actually in combat, carrying a weapon in a combat zone and getting combat pay and in a dangerous and hostile environment where he is getting shot at," Behrends told the "Ingraham Angle" on Wednesday.

CNN FACT-CHECKS TIM WALZ ABOUT ‘ABSOLUTELY FALSE’ CLAIM HE CARRIED WEAPONS 'IN WAR'

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

Walz was never in an active war zone. He mobilized 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 at various locations in Europe and Turkey, according to the Guard, and Walz was stationed in Vicenza, Italy, until returning to Minnesota in 2004. He did not deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan. 

Vance's opponent has been at the center of a brewing controversy since he joined the Democratic ticket. Walz, who served in the Minnesota National Guard for 24 years, repeatedly referred to himself as a "retired command sergeant major," which is not accurate. 

According to the Minnesota National Guard, while Walz served as command sergeant major, "He retired as a Master Sergeant in 2005 for benefit purposes because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy."

On Thursday, the Harris campaign changed the language in Walz's bio on their website after the dust-up. The biography initially said Walz was a "retired Command Sergeant Major," but was then updated to say he "served as a command sergeant major."

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

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Tom Schilling, a veteran who also said he served in the same battalion as Walz, said he "ditched" his soldiers before they were deployed to Iraq in 2005. 

"We all did what we were supposed to do, we did the right thing," Schilling said on Fox News' "Jesse Watters Primetime" Wednesday. "It's dishonorable what he did. He left somebody else up to take over his spot. He just ditched us." 

The Harris campaign released a statement saying, "In his 24 years of service, the Governor carried, fired and trained others to use weapons of war innumerable times. 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."

Fox News' Alexa Moutevelis and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.