Jesse Ventura Rips 'Rich White Boy' Donald Trump as 'Biggest Draft Dodger'

One-time Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura called out former President Donald Trump as a "rich white boy" and the "biggest draft dodger" in a CNN appearance last night.

Speaking with CNN's Laura Coates on Friday night, Ventura, criticized the GOP presidential candidate and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, for their character and values, particularly referencing military service.

Ventura, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, told Coates: "Vance is doing a disservice to himself and a disservice to the United States Marine Corps. I know a lot of great Marines, and Marines show respect, and Vance is not showing respect." Vance is a Marine veteran who served in Iraq.

Ventura added: "who does he [Vance] have respect for, Donald Trump—the biggest draft dodger from the Vietnam War, the rich white boy who bought his way out of it."

Newsweek reached out to Trump and Vance's press team for comment via email on Saturday.

Trump has faced criticism for his medical deferment from the Vietnam War draft, which he attributed to bone spurs in his heels. In 2018, the daughters of the podiatrist who diagnosed the then-22-year-old Trump said that the diagnosis was made as a favor to his father, Fred Trump, according to a New York Times report.

Ventura told Coates: "I come from south Minneapolis. My friends and I didn't get out of it; we either got drafted or we enlisted." He added: "Donald Trump was your typical white rich boy who didn't have to serve in Vietnam 'cause he could buy his way out of it. That's who Vance is standing with; this guy who leads from the rear."

Ventura and Trump share a long history. In 2000, the former expressed support for Trump, saying he would "absolutely get my full consideration" as a potential Reform Party presidential candidate—the same platform Ventura was elected on in 1998. During that conversation, Trump referred to Ventura as a friend, saying, "I'm a big supporter of Jesse."

However, in recent years, Ventura has been outspoken against Trump, writing in a 2016 Time magazine opinion piece that he "could never endorse him."

Newsweek reached out to Ventura's business, Retro Bakery, via email for comment on Saturday.

Candidates' military service has been a hot topic in election campaigns this past week, with both Vance and Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, coming under scrutiny from partisan attacks over their service.

Speaking to reporters in Michigan on Wednesday, Vance accused Walz of "stolen valor," of having "lied" about serving in a war and of "abandoning" his unit. Walz spent 24 years in the National Guard and left in 2005, two months before the battalion he led was notified that it would to be deployed to Iraq.

Vance himself served in the Marine Corps for four years, and he also never saw combat. He worked as a combat correspondent in Iraq between August 2005 and February 2006. The senator has now been widely condemned for attacking Walz's military record as his own background is scrutinized, with Ventura calling Vance's attack "despicable."

Luke Schroeder, a spokesperson for Senator Vance, told Newsweek in an email Saturday: "Tim Walz lied about carrying a weapon in a war and abandoned his unit as they prepared to actually deploy for war; he said he would answer the call, but when the call came, he ran for office instead.

"There's nothing more insulting to veterans who do answer the call to serve in a combat zone like Senator Vance did than those who engage in stolen valor to benefit their political career, which is exactly what Walz appears to have done."

Updated 8/10/24 at 12:30 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include Schroeder's comment.