Staff Reports
Kamala Harris has gone and done it again, launching a less-than-original sports metaphor to hype up her vice presidential pick, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and taking a swipe at Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance. While her comparisons might have played well during her days as a high school debate champion, it seems that this one missed the target by a wide margin. Harris likened Walz to a “varsity team” while dismissing Vance as a mere member of the “JV squad.” Surprisingly, the crowd giggled along, but their laughter might have been more out of disbelief than genuine amusement.
Harris’s comparison quickly fell apart when the facts came into play. JD Vance, a combat veteran of the Iraq War, enjoyed a distinguished military service, while Walz’s record has faced scrutiny, leading some to accuse him of “stolen valor.” It’s a rather unfortunate juxtaposition, one where the varsity player holds an actual championship title and the JV squad is still warming the bench—waiting for a game that may never come.
KAMALA: "When you compare [Walz's] resume to Trump's running mate, well some might say it's like a matchup between the varsity team and the JV squad." pic.twitter.com/z3yvBwplth
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 6, 2024
The irony in Harris’s remarks didn’t escape social media users who are always on the lookout for a juicy contradiction. Vance bravely served overseas, while Walz’s claims of military service have been questioned so thoroughly that it’s hard to know if the Minnesota governor was even on the roster. His official biography allegedly lists a higher military rank than he legitimately achieved, which only adds salt to the wound of Harris’s cringe-worthy claims.
Of course, while Harris and Walz engaged in their comedic routine, their remarks revealed a classic political tactic: distract with humor when faced with uncomfortable truths. Walz, leveraging the power of lowbrow humor, couldn’t resist the chance to throw shade at Vance with a bizarre dig about a rumor involving a couch. It was a grasp for attentiveness, as he smugly suggested he was looking forward to a debate—if Vance could rise from whatever imaginary sofa he was supposed to be lounging on. The cheers from the crowd sounded more like an appreciation of the spectacle than a resounding endorsement of Walz’s qualifications.
As the “JV squad” remark echoes, it’s worth remembering the history of similar proclamations, especially when they come from the left. President Obama once shrugged off concerns about ISIS by labeling them a “JV team,” a moment that continues to haunt anyone with a memory longer than a goldfish. It seems ironic that Harris would want to invoke a term that recalls a spectacular failure in understanding geopolitical threats—one that resulted in chaos and bloodshed. Just as imagining the couch incident might seem good for a laugh, they might soon discover that overlooking the serious matters of military service and actual leadership isn’t clever; it’s a colossal whiff on a pitch thrown right down the middle.
