Tim Walz Faces Uncomfy Fact-Check on Tiananmen Square Ahead of Debate

Tim Walz may not have been telling the truth about when he traveled to China.

CNN reported Tuesday that the Minnesota governor’s previous claims that he was in Hong Kong in May 1989, during the Tiananmen Square protests, was contradicted by a newspaper report from that month featuring a photo of Walz touring a Nebraska National Guard storeroom. Another newspaper article from April 1989 mentioned Walz as planning on going to China in August that year.

These accounts contradict what Walz has said about his time in Hong Kong and China. During a congressional hearing in 2014, when Walz was still in Congress, he claimed he was in Hong Kong during the pro-democracy protests.

“As a young man, I was just going to teach high school in Foshan in Guangdong, and was in Hong Kong in May of ’89,” he said. “And as the events were unfolding, several of us went in. And I still remember the train station in Hong Kong.”

In another radio interview in June 2019, Walz said that he was in Hong Kong on June 4, 1989, the day of the Tiananmen Square massacre. But when CNN reached out to the Harris-Walz presidential campaign to ask if the Minnesota governor was there at the time, the campaign couldn’t provide evidence.

Walz appears to have exaggerated how often he’s been to China as well. He’s said in previous interviews that he’s been to the country “about 30 times” and to Hong Kong “dozens and dozens and dozens of times.” When asked for clarification, the campaign said Walz has visited China “likely closer to 15” times.

These revelations are undoubtedly going to be used as fodder by Republicans, including the Trump campaign. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer has already launched one politicized investigation into Walz’s connections to China, and Comer has not hesitated to attack the Minnesota governor’s family in the process.

Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance is sure to bring up CNN’s report during the vice presidential debate on Tuesday night, and it remains to be seen what kind of response Walz will have. Vance has struggled to attack his Democratic counterpart, and has a huge polling disadvantage to overcome, and may be on the offensive. Walz will not only have to be able to explain the discrepancy over his time in China but also parry any weird attacks Vance sends his way.