As Democrats have made the gamble on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to run with current-Vice President Kamala Harris this November, conservatives have a long list of Walz shortcomings as an elected official to blast him for.
Additionally, Walz’s career in the military and frequent lies about his rank indicate he has a habit of distorting his past.
On Tuesday, CNN — yes, CNN — found another instance of Walz’s past being misrepresented, this time concerning a 1995 DUI arrest.
On September 23, 1995, Walz — 31 at the time working as a high school teacher and coach — was pulled over for going 96 miles per hour in a 55 MPH zone in Chadron, Nebraska.
The state trooper who stopped him smelled alcohol and transported Walz to a hospital where he was issued a field sobriety test.
Walz’s blood alcohol level was .128. The legal limit was .1.
In March 1996, Walz admitted to drinking and driving during a court hearing. After a plea deal, Walz pleaded guilty to reckless driving.
The story here comes from how Walz and his campaign represented this in 2006.
That year, Walz ran in Minnesota‘s first district for the U.S. House of Representatives. In September a blog posted information about the DUI which prompted a response from his campaign.
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From CNN’s findings, the excuse made for why Walz was incoherent with the arresting officer stemmed from his poor hearing due to military service.
Communications director for the Walz campaign, Meredith Salsbery said, “He couldn’t understand what the trooper was telling him during the field sobriety test, and the trooper refused to speak up.”
Salsbery continued: “The judge would not have dismissed them [the DUI charges] if there were anything to them. Tim drove to the police station that night (after being stopped), and he drove home afterwards. I don’t think the trooper would have allowed that if he thought there was a problem.”
What about speeding? In court in 1996, Walz’s attorney tried to say he felt he was being pursued and sped up before realizing it was a state trooper behind him upon the trooper turning on his lights.
This is all just nonsense. Here is a copy of the ticket where it mentions Walz being under the influence on page three.
Walz admitted to being drunk, and he did not drive himself to the police station.
Cody Thomas — a spokesman for the Nebraska State Police — spoke to CNN to clarify that Walz would not be allowed to drive himself: “Under NSP procedure, a person suspected of impaired driving is not allowed to continue driving.”
Granted, this is all information Walz later admitted to. While running for governor in 2018, he owned up to the facts now seeing that night as a life changing event.
What we can take away from all of this is the exposure Walz has been getting since become the VP nominee is nothing new. It is a pattern.
Anyone who overcomes addiction deserves commending, but why not tell the truth to begin with?
Drunk driving isn’t okay, but lying about it makes it worse.
With this instance and Walz more recent controversies, we are getting just an unflattering glimpse of what his conduct will look like as vice president.
