Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) admitted during Tuesday’s debate to mischaracterizing his past travels to China.
Walz, while still a teacher in Minnesota, routinely traveled to China with visiting students and had previously claimed to have been in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
2024 VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: VANCE AND WALZ GO TOE-TO-TOE IN CBS CONTEST
Recent reporting, however, indicated he hadn’t traveled to Asia until after the protests occurred.
Walz, asked about those discrepancies, recounted his work traveling with students to China and claimed to be a “knucklehead sometimes” but initially dodged answering the question.
After moderators pressed Walz in a follow-up, he conceded that he had previously “misspoke” on the subject.
“All I said on this was as I got there that summer and I misspoke on this,” Walz responded.
“I was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protests,” he continued, “and from that, I learned a lot of what needed to be in government.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
During the initial half of his answer, Walz argued that he “learned a lot about China” during his travels and stated that former President Donald Trump would have benefitted from accompanying him on one of those trips.
“I guarantee you he wouldn’t be praising Xi Jinping about COVID, and I guarantee you he wouldn’t start a trade war that he ends up losing,” the governor claimed. “So this is about trying to understand the world. It’s about trying to do the best you can for your community.”