Gov. Tim Walz in a rare interview Sunday downplayed some of his past false statements that came up during the vice presidential debate last week as he attempted to make a more forceful case for the Democratic ticket following disappointment from some in his party that he didn’t push back more on JD Vance.
Since being tapped as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, the folksy, plain-speaking Minnesota governor has had to explain a number of inaccurate statements — and at times embellishments — about his past. They range from his repeated, inaccurate use of his retired military rank to his visit to Hong Kong more than three decades ago to clarifying that his family didn’t specifically use in vitro fertilization.
“I will own up when I misspeak. I will own up when I make a mistake,” Walz said in an interview with host Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday.”
But Walz quickly added he didn’t think voters care whether his family specifically used in vitro fertilization or another similar treatment. The Harris campaign has had to clarify that Walz’s family used a treatment known as IUI, not IVF — which Republicans have fought over banning. The governor, however, didn’t specifically address why he’s claimed he was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, when he apparently wasn’t in the region until several months later. During last week’s debate with Republican vice-presidential nominee Vance, Walz said he was “a knucklehead” and that he “misspoke” when pressed about it.