Tim Walz swerves question over his China ‘lie’ after being exposed just hours before debate

DEMOCRATIC vice presidential nominee Tim Walz initially failed to answer a question about his time in China just hours after inaccuracies about his previous statements were exposed.

It followed reports Walz wrongly claimed he was in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre when Chinese authorities brutally crushed pro-democracy protesters.

This is despite the fact that publicly available evidence suggests Walz was not in Hong Kong or Mainland China at the time.

The Minnesota governor and Ohio senator JD Vance clashed on issues including the border and abortion in heated exchanges during Tuesday's vice-presidential debate on CBS.

Earlier on Tuesday, shared a 2019 radio interview in which Walz stated he was in Hong Kong on June 4, 1989, the day that China's military opened fire on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing following seven weeks of demonstrations.

The massacre left more than 500 people dead.

Walz claimed in the past that he had visited China more than 30 times, although his campaign later admitted that the true number was "closer to 15."

In 2014, Walz also made a statement during a hearing that he was in the then-British colony of Hong Kong in May 1989.

During the hearing marking 25 years since the massacre, Walz testified: "As a young man I was just going to teach high school in Foshan in Guangdong province and was in Hong Kong in May 1989.

"As the events were unfolding, several of us went in. I still remember the train station in Hong Kong.

"There was a large number of people - especially Europeans, I think - very angry that we would still go after what had happened."

He went on: "But it was my belief at that time that the diplomacy was going to happen on many levels, certainly people to people, and the opportunity to be in a Chinese high school at that critical time seemed to me to be really important."

On Monday, Minnesota Public Radio contradicted those claims by saying he appeared to have been in Nebraska instead.

He went to China later that year through WorldTeach, a nonprofit based at Harvard University.

Walz made similar claims during a 2009 hearing of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China to mark 20 years since the deaths.

He was questioned about the claims and discrepancies during the debate.

I’ve not been perfect, and I'm a knucklehead at times.

Tim Walz

Admitting he was a "knucklehead" and "not perfect," he didn't address the accusations head-on, instead talking about his upbringing in rural Nebraska.

He instead said he "misspoke" when he made the claims when pushed again by debate hosts.

"I’ve tried to do the best I can, but I’ve not been perfect, and I knucklehead at times, but it’s always been about that those same people elected me to Congress for 12 years," he said.

The comments have been seized on by Republicans as part of what AP News described as a "broader pattern of inaccuracies."

Walz has previously been accused of misrepresenting elements of his past, including the type of infertility treatment his family received, and his rank in the National Guard.

The Walz campaign has also faced claims of giving conflicting accounts of his drunk driving arrest in 1995.

It comes as...

• JD Vance and Tim Walz locked horns in first VP debate ahead of election
• Walz was branded 'Biden Jr.' during his rambling answers to some of the debate questions
• Donald Trump slammed the CBS hosts for their 'bias' after they cut the candidates' mics during Vance's answer
• Vance 'has chance to become Maga movement leader but must avoid being cocky,' expert warns
• Expert warns Walz has 'more holes than swiss cheese' in wake of Vance debate
• Closet Trump voters are still ‘not coming clean,' ex-Biden advisor says
• Battleground states remain too close to call

The first question from hosts Margaret Brennan and Norah O'Donnell during Tuesday's debate concerned the Middle East, in the wake of Iran's missile strikes against Israel.

Walz appeared to confuse Iran and Israel twice in his first answer, at one point referring to "Israel and its proxies," and instead launched personal attacks on Trump and Vance.

He praised what he said would be Kamala Harris' "steady leadership," drawing a contrast with the presidential debate when a "nearly 80-year-old Trump [is] talking about crowd sizes."

For his part, Vance said Trump had brought peace to the Middle East, and was the only president to have no major war during his presidency.

The two also sparred about immigration and the contentious subject of the southern border.

Walz accused President Trump of killing a bipartisan bill to solve the border crisis in the Senate.

Vance attacked Harris and Biden's handling of the border, as he faced accusations that he would support the separation of migrant children from their families.

In an early flashpoint, the two clashed over Haitian migration to Springfield, Ohio, with the hosts eventually cutting both candidates' microphones after they continued to argue after their allotted time.

The candidates got into a heated back-and-forth over an immigration parole program allowing Haitian immigrants to be in the US legally.

As the moderators tried to move onto the question, Vance spoke out about the legality of the program, and as Walz interjected, the pair had their mics cut.

CBS News said before the debate that the moderators "reserve the right" to mute the candidates' microphones.

Vance was questioned about his previous description of Trump as "America's Hitler," saying he had got it wrong and had been "misled" by the media.

“Donald Trump delivered for the American people, rising wages, rising take-home pay, an economy that worked for normal Americans, a secure southern border, a lot of things, frankly, that I didn’t think you’d be able to deliver on," Vance said.

"When you screw up when you misspeak when you get something wrong and you change your mind, you ought to be honest with the American people about the reasons," he added.

Trump posted throughout Tuesday's debate on his Truth Social app, attacking Harris and Walz.

Referring to the mic cut moment, Trump wrote: "Margaret Brennan just lied again about the ILLEGAL MIGRANTS let into our Country by Lyin’ Kamala Harris, and then she cut off JD’s mic to stop him from correcting her!"

He also attacked Walz's presentation style, writing: "JD is steady and strong, Tampon Tim is sweating bullets, he is nervous and 'weird,'" referring back to previous accusations made by Walz about the MAGA campaign being "weird."

BACK AND FORTH

Walz and Vanz also fought over housing and healthcare during a largely civil but occasionally testy debate.

On the topic of gun violence in schools, Vance called for more security in school buildings, including stronger windows and more resource officers.

Walz began his answer by stating his support for responsible gun ownership and saying he was a hunter, before calling for better checks.

"We understand that the 2nd Amendment is there, but our first responsibility is to our kids," he said.

He also brought up that his 17-year-old child had witnessed a shooting at a community center during a volleyball game.

"Those things don't leave you," he said.

This brought a rare moment of togetherness between the pair, as Vance offered his condolences and said: "I'm sorry about that."

Walz appeared to misspeak when he said that he had "become friends with school shooters."

On housing, Vance blamed the Harris administration "for letting in millions of illegal aliens into this country," and driving up housing costs.

Walz pointed to the city of Minneapolis in his state as a housing affordability success story.