Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz tried again Wednesday to explain his repeated false statement that he was in China during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 — telling reporters in Pennsylvania that he “got his dates wrong” and suggesting he makes verbal mistakes “like everybody else.”
Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, was questioned during Tuesday night’s debate over a report that indicated that he was not in Hong Kong like he repeatedly previously claimed — but was actually back home in Nebraska.
“Look, I have my dates wrong. I was in Hong Kong and China in 1989,” Walz said Wednesday.
“You’ve seen me. These teachers see me. I speak like everybody else speaks,” he added.
“I need to be clearer. I will tell you that.”
Walz has previously said he has been to China more than “30 times” during his life, as he was coordinating trips for Americans to teach at local schools and travel around the Communist country in the 1980s and 1990s.
The 60-year-old made the Hong Kong claim at least three times between 2009 and 2019, saying he was in Asia at the time of the crackdown on pro-democracy protests by the Chinese Communist Party.
“Look, I will be the first to tell you I have poured my heart into my community,” Walz said Tuesday during his initial response to being questioned about his lies. “I’ve tried to do the best I can, but I’ve not been perfect, and I’m a knucklehead at times, but it’s always been about that those same people elected me to Congress for 12 years.”
After co-moderator Margaret Brennan followed up and noted he had not addressed the falsehood, Walz responded: “All I said on this was, is, I got there that summer and misspoke on this, so I will just — that’s what I’ve said. So I was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protest, went in, and from that, I learned a lot of what needed to be in governance.”
The Tiananmen Square protest was crushed by the Chinese military on June 4, 1989, but Walz did not arrive in the country until that August, according to contemporary reports by a Nebraska newspaper.
Walz made several other gaffes during his debate against Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), including confusing Iran with Israel and saying he is “friends with school shooters.”
The Minnesota governor refused to answer reporters’ questions about the “school shooters” remark Tuesday night after the debate, but attempted to address it Wednesday by saying David Hogg — a survivor of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting turned gun control activist — is his “friend.”
“And using David Hogg’s name, he is a friend of mine,” Walz said of his commitment to standing up against gun violence.
Democrats rallied behind Walz’s performance during the debate despite his repeated mistakes, frequent note taking and general nervous appearance, saying the governor still managed to deliver on the Harris-Walz message and was “Minnesota nice.”
Republicans, meanwhile, championed Vance for his takedown of Walz while appearing confident and sympathetic on stage.