Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is under fire for falsely claiming he was in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing. Multiple news reports have highlighted this misleading statement, part of a pattern of inaccuracies that Republicans are eager to expose. During the vice presidential debate, Walz admitted to “misspeaking” and attributed his inaccuracies to getting “caught up in rhetoric” and being a “knucklehead at times”.
The Associated Press uncovered several instances in which Walz misrepresented details about his personal life, such as the type of infertility treatment received by his family, conflicting accounts of his 1995 drunk driving arrest, and misleading information about his National Guard rank. Additionally, Walz has claimed to have traveled to China more than 30 times, when evidence suggests the actual number is closer to 15.
Publicly available accounts contradict a statement made by Walz in 2014 during a hearing commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Despite claiming he was in Hong Kong in May 1989, evidence suggests he was actually in Nebraska. Although Walz has previously insinuated that he was in Hong Kong during the massacre, records show he was working in the National Guard armory in Nebraska at the time and only left for China in August of that year.
These discrepancies have raised questions about Walz’s honesty and credibility, an issue that the Republicans are likely to seize on as the election approaches. Walz’s campaign has not yet responded to requests for comment on these revelations.
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