After a bombshell report released by CNN, vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is facing a new wave of scrutiny for repeatedly and falsely claiming to have been in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, 1989. CNN’s K-File investigative team, led by Andy Kaczynski, unearthed audio recordings and previous statements in which Walz referenced being in China at the time of the protests — a claim now proven to be inaccurate.
In a 2019 radio interview, Walz stated, “I was in Hong Kong on June 4, 1989, when, of course, Tiananmen Square happened.” However, CNN’s investigation reveals that Walz did not travel to China until August of that year, three months after the infamous crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. The discrepancies were first uncovered by the Washington Free Beacon, Minnesota Public Radio News, and further corroborated by local news reports from 1989 and 1990.
The false claims, which date back several years, have surfaced just ahead of the highly anticipated Vice Presidential debate, where Walz is set to debate J.D. Vance (R-OH) in New York on Tuesday night. Critics are calling the news a serious blow to Walz’s credibility.
While the Walz campaign has yet to directly address the claims, a source close to the governor told CNN, “The point Gov. Walz is making when he discusses this is that some folks in the World Teach program discussed dropping out after Tiananmen Square, but he continued on with the program because he believed it was important for the Chinese people to learn about American democracy and American history.”
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