Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz told “The View” Monday he speaks “honestly” when pressed to explain his false statements about his past.
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin began with a disclaimer, “I want to ask this way about a number of misstatements you’ve made about your previous military record and travels you have been on. I want to be unequivocal, nobody lies as much as Donald Trump. Nothing that you’ve misled on is anything on the same level.”
She then continued, “In an era where there’s so much mistruth in our politics, so many lies, can’t there be no gray area, and how would you convey to voters they may be concerned that there’s a trust issue?”
Walz responded, “I do think you have to be careful about this. If it’s stating, you know, in Hong Kong in August of ’89, 35 years ago. I think people do separate that between a pathological liar like Donald Trump. They get it out there, but I do think it’s important that we’re careful about how we speak, and something for me is, I think being a teacher, being a coach, I just speak from my heart. I speak honestly. I speak in the moment.”
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Walz came under fire for claiming he was in Hong Kong during the deadly Tiananmen Square protests in the spring of 1989, despite reporting that showed he didn’t travel to China until August of that year. He was also criticized for stating he carried weapons of war “in war,” during a 2018 interview, which the Harris campaign walked back.
He said that while he was preparing for his debate against Sen. JD Vance, he expressed to his team that he felt he was at a disadvantage because his tendency is to “just answer the question that you’re asked as quickly as you can.”
When he was asked about reporting that he was not in China during the Tiananmen Square protests during the debate, Walz gave a lengthy response about his past as a teacher and a coach, and said, “I’m a knucklehead at times.”
Pressed by the debate moderators to explain the discrepancy a second time, he said, “All I said on this was, as I got there that summer and misspoke on this,” Walz said.
“So, I will just — that’s what I’ve said. So, I was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protests, went in and, from that, I learned a lot of what needed to be in in governance,” he continued.
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“I think the public sees this, just the massive amount of misinformation that gets poured out there. It is important to be detailed,” Walz said.
During a 2018 interview, Walz claimed he carried “weapons of war” while “in war,” and the Harris campaign said he “misspoke.”
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“In making the case for why weapons of war should never be on our streets or in our classrooms, the Governor misspoke. He did handle weapons of war and believes strongly that only military members trained to carry those deadly weapons should have access to them, unlike Donald Trump and JD Vance who prioritize the gun lobby over our children,” a Harris campaign spokesperson said in a statement.
