Walz says he “misspoke” after uncovered newspaper reports refuted claims that he was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests

CNN
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Tuesday he “misspoke” when he previously said he had visited Hong Kong in the spring of 1989 during the Tiananmen Square protests in China, but insisted that he had “was in Hong Kong and China” during the pro-democracy protests. .

His comments during Tuesday night's vice presidential debate followed the uncovering of reports that contradict previous claims he made about his trip to China, including the claim that the Democratic vice presidential candidate was in Hong Kong in 1989 to prepare for a teaching position during the event in Tiananmen Square – democracy protests that ended with the murder of hundreds of demonstrators by the Chinese government.

“My community knows who I am. You saw where I was,” Walz said during the debate. “Look, I will be the first to tell you that I have put my heart into my community. I tried to do my best, but I wasn't perfect and sometimes I'm a jerk, but that's what it was always about. The same people elected me to Congress for 12 years.”

When pressed specifically by CBS News anchors about the discrepancy between his previous comments and media reports about his trip, Walz initially said he had “misspoke” on the matter.

“All I said about it was that I got there this summer and I got it wrong, so I’ll just – that’s what I said,” he said, before adding: “I was there during the democracy protests in Hong Kong and China.” in. And through that I learned a lot about what you need to do in governance,” he said.

During his time as a teacher before entering politics, Walz regularly organized and accompanied trips to China.

He previously said he visited Hong Kong in “May 1989,” weeks before the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing. During a 2014 hearing of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China marking the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, Walz, then a congressman from Minnesota, appeared to recall certain details of his trip to the region at the time.

“As a young man, I was about to teach high school in Foshan, Guangdong, and I was in Hong Kong in May 1989,” he said. “And as events unfolded, several of us went inside. And I still remember the train station in Hong Kong.”

“The opportunity to attend a Chinese high school during this critical time seemed really important to me. And it was a very interesting summer to say the least. Because if you remember we've been thinking about the news blackouts and other events this summer and beyond, you certainly can't block people's news if they want to get it,” he continued.

Walz also claimed in a radio interview in June 2019 that he was in Hong Kong on June 4, 1989 – the day of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

“I was in Hong Kong on June 4, 1989, when, of course, Tiananmen Square happened. And then I was in China. It was very strange because of course all external transmissions were blocked – Voice of America – and of course there were no phones, no emails or anything like that. So I was kind of out of touch. It took me a month to know that the Berlin Wall had fallen while I was living there,” he said.

During a 2009 hearing of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China commemorating the Tiananmen Square protests, Walz claimed that he was in Hong Kong at the time, preparing to teach in China.

“Twenty years ago today, I was in Hong Kong preparing to go to Foshan to attend Foshan No. 1 Middle School,” he said. “Seeing what happened at the end of the day on June 4 was something many of us will never forget. We vow never to forget, and bearing witness and accurately telling the story is vital to the progress of every nation.”

Walz's claims that he was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests were repeated in media reports. But contemporary newspaper reports, first resurfaced by the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative news outlet, show that Walz was in Nebraska at the time. A May 16, 1989, issue of the Alliance Times-Herald features a photograph of Walz touring a Nebraska National Guard storage facility. In the caption, the newspaper says Walz will “take over the task” of manning the storage room from a retired guardsman and “deploy to Alliance” in Nebraska. A separate newspaper article about Walz's planned trip to China, published in April 1989 by a Nebraska-based newspaper, reported that he planned to travel to China in early August of that year.

When asked by CNN whether Walz was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests, the Harris campaign was unable to provide evidence to support Walz's claim.

A source close to Walz told CNN: “Governor Walz makes the point when he talks about how some people in the World Teach program considered leaving after Tiananmen, but he continued with the program, because he believed it was important for the Chinese people to learn about American democracy and American history.”

The contradiction was first reported by Minnesota Public Radio News and APM Reports.

Walz also appears to have exaggerated how often he traveled to China. In an interview in 2016, he said he had visited China “about 30 times.” At another meeting of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China in 2016, Walz claimed that he had visited Hong Kong “dozens and dozens and dozens of times.”

Asked for clarification on how often Walz traveled to China, a Harris campaign spokesman told CNN that the number of trips Walz made to China was “probably closer to 15.”

China has long held an important place in Walz's life, ever since he first traveled to the country in 1989. Walz and his wife Gwen Walz were married on June 4, 1994 – the fifth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre – and spent their honeymoon leading students on an educational trip to China, which Walz did during his time as a teacher before joining in Congress on a regular basis. Before their wedding, Gwen Walz told the Nebraska-based Star-Herald newspaper that they had planned to get married on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre because “he wanted to have a date that he would always remember.”

Since joining the Harris campaign, Walz has not spoken at length about China or his travel history to the country.

Republicans in recent days have focused on Walz's ties to China as a target for further investigation. Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Donald Trump's campaign, indicated Monday that he expected Vance to attack Walz over his trips to China.

“Tiananmen Tim! Funny they're changing that now – we were planning on calling him out on it at the debate tomorrow night! “Anything else you want to admit, Tim???” Miller said in a social media post in response to the Harris campaign's clarification about Walz's trips to China.

Republicans in Congress have joined the Trump campaign in questioning Walz's ties to China. House Oversight Chairman James Comer on Monday subpoenaed Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for documents related to Walz, as part of allegations made through “whistleblower disclosures” to the committee that Walz had ties to the Chinese Communist Party . The subpoena is the latest move by House Republicans to highlight Walz's ties to China through an investigation that began in August, shortly after he joined the Democratic Party.

The inconsistencies surrounding Walz's trips to China and Hong Kong represent the latest instance in which the governor's previous comments have been proven inaccurate since he became the Democratic vice presidential nominee. In August, a Harris campaign spokesman said Walz had “misspoken” in a 2018 video in which he said he handled assault weapons “in war.”

Later that month, Gwen Walz clarified that the couple had used a fertility treatment other than in vitro fertilization to get pregnant after her husband suggested they use artificial insemination.

CORRECTION: This article and headline have been updated to accurately reflect Tim Walz's previous claims that he traveled to Asia in 1989. He claimed he was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests.

This story and headline have been updated with Walz's remarks during Tuesday night's debate.