During Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz found himself in an awkward position when pressed about a long-standing false claim regarding his presence in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.
As CBS News anchor and debate moderator Margaret Brennan pointed out, multiple reports have confirmed that Walz didn’t actually travel to Asia until later that year, well after the protests had ended.
In his response, Walz began by explaining his background as a teacher and the reasons behind his eventual trip to China. However, he quickly pivoted, conceding, “I’ve tried to do the best I can, but I’ve not been perfect and I’m a knucklehead at times.”
This self-deprecating remark, meant to soften the blow, sparked a wave of mockery on social media, as many saw it as an attempt to downplay the gravity of his misstatement.
You can put a fork in him.
He’s done. https://t.co/984sEQXqoh
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) October 2, 2024
Walz further admitted that he sometimes gets “caught up in the rhetoric” and talks too much, an acknowledgment that didn’t quite satisfy Brennan or the audience. When Brennan pressed again, asking him directly to “explain the discrepancy,” Walz offered a brief and somewhat unsatisfying response, simply stating that he had “misspoke.”
This isn’t the first controversy Walz has faced during the 2024 campaign. He has also been dogged by accusations of “stolen valor,” an issue that has raised further questions about his credibility. These controversies have become a point of attack for his Republican opponent, Senator JD Vance, who has been quick to highlight them as signs of Walz’s unreliability.
Moderator: Governor Walz, why did you lie about when you were in China?
Walz: I’m just a country boy knucklehead, aw shucks.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 2, 2024
As the running mate to Vice President Kamala Harris, Walz’s performance in the debate—marked by this slip-up—underscored the challenges facing the Harris-Walz ticket. On the other hand, Vance, chosen by former President Donald Trump as his vice presidential candidate, seemed to emerge from the debate with fewer missteps.
