When Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, entered the 117th Congress in 2021, Tim Walz was already serving as governor in Minnesota after his six terms in Congress. But on many occasions, Gonzalez heard about Walz’s claim to be the “senior-most enlisted service member to have been elected to Congress” based on his service as a command sergeant major (E9).
The discussion never really bothered Gonzales, himself a retired master chief petty officer (E9), but he recalls hearing about it. “I’m not really the type that cares about this sort of title or brags about my service,” he told me in a phone interview. But in recent days, as more disclosures about Walz’s service have come to light, it dawned on Gonzales and his team that he was the elected representative actually entitled to that particular honorific. “I was under the impression that he was an E9, so when I learned the truth, I was like, ‘Are you kidding?’”
In a tweet Thursday evening, Gonzales said, “I proudly served 20 years in the U.S. Navy, with multiple deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq — retired as a Master Chief. Yes, that makes me the highest ranked enlisted service member to EVER serve in Congress. A claim Gov. Walz has falsely paraded around. It’s important to call out DISHONESTY.” He went on to call for Walz’s withdrawal as Democrats’ presumptive vice presidential nominee.
In our interview barely an hour before sending the tweet, Gonzalez minced even fewer words: “In my eyes, that’s stolen valor,”
