Harris allies are realizing Tim Walz's trouble with the truth is a major liability
Cracks are beginning to show in Harris' inner circle, as evidenced by recent leaks to the liberal press. The cause appears to be Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's numerous bald-faced lies — or what Politico has euphemistically referred to as "verbal errors" and "problem[s] misspeaking." Four individuals in Harris' camp spoke anonymously to Politico, indicating that despite the vetting process, they were blindsided by some of Walz's more egregious whoppers, such as his repeated yarn about being in Hong Kong during the infamous massacre at Tiananmen Square in 1989. Walz "misspoke" at length, for instance, during a congressional hearing in 2014, claiming, "[The Tiananmen Square massacre] certainly had enduring influence on me. As a young man I was just going to teach high school in Foshan in Guangdong province and was in Hong Kong in May 1989. As the events were unfolding, several of us went in. I still remember the train station in Hong Kong." 'I will get caught up in the rhetoric.' During the vice presidential debate, moderator Margaret Brennan asked, "You said you were in Hong Kong during the deadly Tiananmen Square protest in the spring of 1989, but Minnesota Public Radio and other media outlets are reporting that you actually didn't travel to Asia until August of that year. Can you explain that discrepancy?" After providing Brennan with an unsolicited and scattered biography, Walz said, "I've not been perfect, and I'm a knucklehead at times, but it's always been about that." Walz added, "I will talk a lot, I will get caught up in the rhetoric, but being there, the impact it made, the difference in my life. I learned a lot about China." When asked once again to bridge the chasm between reality and his account, Walz suggested he "misspoke." "It's unclear whether Walz's verbal errors will undercut his credibility with voters. But the need to continually clean up those claims could politically hurt Walz and Harris," reported Politico. Since the debate, Walz has been trying to smooth over the waves his most recently discovered falsehoods have caused, reassuring reporters in Pennsylvania, for instance, "Look, I have my dates wrong." Walz is not the only Democrat desperately scrambling to limit the damage his mouth has done. Once the truth came out about the governor's military record and retiring rank, the Harris campaign reportedly had to revise Walz's biography. Whereas it previously listed the governor as a "retired command sergeant major," it was adjusted to indicate that Walz once held the command sergeant major rank — a critical distinction, granted he reverted back to the rank of master sergeant after failing to complete the necessary coursework. 'He sometimes misspeaks.' Politico noted that the Harris campaign also felt compelled to claim Walz "misspoke" when he said in 2018 that he didn't want "those weapons of war, that I carried in war" accessible to law-abiding Americans. Of course, Walz never served in combat, having bailed out of the service around the time his battalion received word it would soon be deployed to Iraq. When Walz was exposed for lying about "us[ing] I.V.F. to start a family," having actually used intrauterine insemination to have children, Lauren Hitt, a spokeswoman for the Harris campaign, once again used the magic word, claiming Walz "misspoke." Walz also appears to have misspoken when he falsely claimed: in his 2005 congressional campaign biography that he was "named the Outstanding Young Nebraskan by the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce for his service in the education, military, and small business communities"; that over 80% of schoolchildren in Minnesota didn't miss more than 10 days of school during the pandemic; that Project 2025 calls for the tracking of "all pregnancies" and would require women "to register with a new federal agency" upon conception; and that his son witnessed a shooting, having actually been inside a nearby recreation center at the time the episode occurred outdoors. "Any time you are forced to go off message is never welcome," Mike Mikus, a Democratic strategist in Pennsylvania, told Politico. "But in the end, voters are looking for somebody who is more concerned about what these candidates are going to do to improve their lives than, 'Did he get every single fact correct.'" The campaign appears to be left with little other option that to recycle this word and insinuate that Walz's ostensibly pathological disregard for the truth is evidence of his normalcy. "As the governor has said, he sometimes misspeaks," a spokesman for the campaign told Politico. "He speaks like a normal person and speaks passionately about issues he cares deeply about including democracy and stopping gun violence in our school." In a desperate projection effort, the spokesman suggested Trump and Vance "repeatedly lie and mislead about their plan to ban abortion nationwide" and other topics. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign u
Cracks are beginning to show in Harris' inner circle, as evidenced by recent leaks to the liberal press. The cause appears to be Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's numerous bald-faced lies — or what Politico has euphemistically referred to as "verbal errors" and "problem[s] misspeaking."
Four individuals in Harris' camp spoke anonymously to Politico, indicating that despite the vetting process, they were blindsided by some of Walz's more egregious whoppers, such as his repeated yarn about being in Hong Kong during the infamous massacre at Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Walz "misspoke" at length, for instance, during a congressional hearing in 2014, claiming, "[The Tiananmen Square massacre] certainly had enduring influence on me. As a young man I was just going to teach high school in Foshan in Guangdong province and was in Hong Kong in May 1989. As the events were unfolding, several of us went in. I still remember the train station in Hong Kong."
'I will get caught up in the rhetoric.'
During the vice presidential debate, moderator Margaret Brennan asked, "You said you were in Hong Kong during the deadly Tiananmen Square protest in the spring of 1989, but Minnesota Public Radio and other media outlets are reporting that you actually didn't travel to Asia until August of that year. Can you explain that discrepancy?"
After providing Brennan with an unsolicited and scattered biography, Walz said, "I've not been perfect, and I'm a knucklehead at times, but it's always been about that."
Walz added, "I will talk a lot, I will get caught up in the rhetoric, but being there, the impact it made, the difference in my life. I learned a lot about China."
When asked once again to bridge the chasm between reality and his account, Walz suggested he "misspoke."
"It's unclear whether Walz's verbal errors will undercut his credibility with voters. But the need to continually clean up those claims could politically hurt Walz and Harris," reported Politico.
Since the debate, Walz has been trying to smooth over the waves his most recently discovered falsehoods have caused, reassuring reporters in Pennsylvania, for instance, "Look, I have my dates wrong."
Walz is not the only Democrat desperately scrambling to limit the damage his mouth has done.
Once the truth came out about the governor's military record and retiring rank, the Harris campaign reportedly had to revise Walz's biography. Whereas it previously listed the governor as a "retired command sergeant major," it was adjusted to indicate that Walz once held the command sergeant major rank — a critical distinction, granted he reverted back to the rank of master sergeant after failing to complete the necessary coursework.
'He sometimes misspeaks.'
Politico noted that the Harris campaign also felt compelled to claim Walz "misspoke" when he said in 2018 that he didn't want "those weapons of war, that I carried in war" accessible to law-abiding Americans. Of course, Walz never served in combat, having bailed out of the service around the time his battalion received word it would soon be deployed to Iraq.
When Walz was exposed for lying about "us[ing] I.V.F. to start a family," having actually used intrauterine insemination to have children, Lauren Hitt, a spokeswoman for the Harris campaign, once again used the magic word, claiming Walz "misspoke."
Walz also appears to have misspoken when he falsely claimed:
- in his 2005 congressional campaign biography that he was "named the Outstanding Young Nebraskan by the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce for his service in the education, military, and small business communities";
- that over 80% of schoolchildren in Minnesota didn't miss more than 10 days of school during the pandemic;
- that Project 2025 calls for the tracking of "all pregnancies" and would require women "to register with a new federal agency" upon conception;
- and that his son witnessed a shooting, having actually been inside a nearby recreation center at the time the episode occurred outdoors.
"Any time you are forced to go off message is never welcome," Mike Mikus, a Democratic strategist in Pennsylvania, told Politico. "But in the end, voters are looking for somebody who is more concerned about what these candidates are going to do to improve their lives than, 'Did he get every single fact correct.'"
The campaign appears to be left with little other option that to recycle this word and insinuate that Walz's ostensibly pathological disregard for the truth is evidence of his normalcy.
"As the governor has said, he sometimes misspeaks," a spokesman for the campaign told Politico. "He speaks like a normal person and speaks passionately about issues he cares deeply about including democracy and stopping gun violence in our school."
In a desperate projection effort, the spokesman suggested Trump and Vance "repeatedly lie and mislead about their plan to ban abortion nationwide" and other topics.
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Originally Published at Daily Wire, World Net Daily, or The Blaze
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