Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota has a problem with telling the truth. That fact was highlighted during Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate and again the next day.
He’s apparently been telling a lie for years about being in China in June 1989, when the communist government cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
During the debate, CBS News moderator Margaret Brennan raised the issue with Walz, saying, “You said you were in Hong Kong during the deadly Tiananmen Square protest in the spring of 1989. But Minnesota Public Radio and other media outlets are reporting that you actually didn’t travel to Asia until August of that year.
“Can you explain that discrepancy?” Brennan asked.
Walz began a meandering answer about growing up in rural Nebraska, joining the National Guard, becoming a teacher and taking trips to China with his students.
“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,” he said.
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Walz then meandered some more about being elected to Congress and trying to be a bipartisan member and eventually being elected governor of Minnesota.
So the point of all that seemed to be, “Believe me. I’m a good guy. And I just happen to embellish my life story from time to time.”
That’s essentially what he said next: “Many times I will talk a lot. I will get caught up in the rhetoric. But being there, the impact it made, the difference it made in my life — I learned a lot about China.”
Brennan patiently took in all the Walz blather, but pressed him again, saying, “The question was, can you explain the discrepancy?”
“No, all I said on this is I got there that summer, and misspoke on this, so I will just … that’s what I’ve said,” the governor responded. Yikes!
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On Wednesday, a reporter in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, offered Walz a chance to do some clean-up on his answer from the previous night, but it didn’t go any better.
“I had my dates wrong,” Walz explained. “I was in Hong Kong in China in 1989. That move from Hong Kong into China, it was profound for me. That was the summer of democracy. I said, it’s when I understood how sacred democracy was. It’s what encouraged me, about 15 back-and-forths with my students.”
The candidate then reverted to his I’m-not-a-perfect-guy posture, saying, “I speak like everybody else speaks. I need to be clearer, I will tell you that.”
“My clarity to take away from the message is something I want to be very clear: August of ‘89 into Hong Kong, into China,” Walz said.
JUST IN: Tim Walz is still trying to get his cover story straight on his “Tiananmen Square” lie.
He now says: “I had my dates wrong.”
All this clown does is lie. pic.twitter.com/rBuT3Pl3sf
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) October 2, 2024
Walz doesn’t need to speak clearer; he needs to tell the truth.
The common thread that weaves its way through the governor’s Tiananmen Square story and his stolen valor problems surrounding his military record is an apparent need to make himself appear more important and perhaps braver than he is.
It’s a character flaw, and a sure indicator that he should not be entrusted with serving in one of the highest offices in the land.
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