Retired Minnesota National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Behrends slammed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate on the 2024 ticket, Saturday on “Fox and Friends Weekend” for misleading voters about his military service.

Walz’s claims about his military service and the timing of his 2005 retirement have come under fire since Vice President Kamala Harris announced him as her running mate Tuesday. The Harris-Walz campaign website has since corrected its original language calling Walz a “retired command sergeant major” to saying he “served as a commend sergeant major.”

Behrends ripped into Walz for being an “unforgivable coward” and quitting before his unit was deployed to Iraq.

“I would liken this to a coach coaching a team for 25 years, and then you’re finally in the Super Bowl. And then the Super Bowl is coming, and the coach says, ‘No, I’m out. I’m done.’ What does it say, what message does it send to a unit when a command sergeant major — I mean, command sergeant majors are a big deal. They block the sun. They’re the most important enlisted member of that unit. When a command sergeant major bails on a deployment beforehand, what kind of message does that send?” Fox News co-host Pete Hegseth asked.

“The message that it sends to me is, you know, turn around and run and just keep running. I mean, go crawl under a rock. Get the Hell out of here. Nobody even wants to mention your name again. You’re soiled, basically a traitor. You’re a deserter at that point,” Behrends said.

“The knowledge that you have at that point is very good because, I mentioned that with my family, this is like training for the Super Bowl. And then you’re one game away, and Tom Brady says, ‘Uh, sorry. I don’t wanna get hurt in this game, so you go play for me.’ It’s just absolutely ridiculous,” Behrends told Hegseth. (RELATED: ‘You Can Be A Regular White Guy!’: CNN Panelist Tells Democrats To Ditch Celebrities At DNC)

Walz retired in May 2005, two months before the unit received mobilization orders, according to the Minnesota Public Radio.

Behrends told Hegseth approximately 98-99% of those who were deployed after Walz departed echoed his feelings.

“A couple out there that have spoken out, saying ‘How could you do this to the guy’ and whatever. But he did it to himself,” Behrends said.

“All I am is the messenger. He made the message,” he continued. “And I just happened to be the one that God said, you know, you’re too dumb to keep your mouth shut, so go spread the word.”

Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, the GOP nominee for vice president, accused Walz of “stolen valor” at a Wednesday campaign event. Vance cited comments Walz made about carrying weapons of war in a war from a video posted Tuesday by Harris’ campaign headquarters on X.