As we reported, CNN’s “noxious” anchor Brianna Keilar took a swipe at GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance’s military career, implying that he had somehow embellished his record. As my colleague Streiff noted, she said Vance “may be an imperfect messenger” on the subject because he is “someone who did not see combat.”
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Of course, he never said he did, and unlike Kamala Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, Vance did not spread falsehoods about his time in the military. He was not amused by Keilar’s comments:
On Friday, Keilar got to enjoy a nice dish of fresh crow as she had to walk her remarks back following intense backlash. Her discomfort is palpable as she says, “Attacks on JD Vance’s service are also offensive”:
“Attacks on JD Vance’s service are also offensive,” she says—yet that’s exactly what she’s guilty of.
Background: CNN’s Brianna Keilar: JD Vance Is an ‘Imperfect Messenger’ As His Service in Iraq Is Not Really Combat
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She continued, and it gets really weird when she waxes poetic about our nation’s military. Not something you see every day from CNN anchors:
“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.”
Here’s the best part, though, where she directly contradicts her previous words about Vance being an “imperfect messenger.”
“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.”
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She continued in her glowing praise of the military and veterans, but boy did it seem forced. While she reluctantly had to praise Vance, she heaped equal love on Walz and acted as if his scandal didn’t exist. In fact, she said, not having experienced combat “doesn’t make them or their service less admirable, or less necessary. Nor does retiring from the National Guard after 24 years.”
Yes, but retiring after 24 years and then lying about your service record does make a person less admirable, Brianna.
It was fun watching herself contort herself and act all high and mighty about the need to respect the service or veterans when it was she herself who disrespected Vance just hours before. I hope that crow was delicious.