Politico says Walz's false statements may 'haunt' campaign, undermine 'upstanding, everyday Midwest' appeal

Vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., has been called out so many times for false claims, one news outlet warned it may unravel his public image.

CBS debate moderators confronted the governor during his vice presidential debate with Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, on Tuesday regarding Walz’s claim that he had been in Hong Kong in May 1989 during the Tiananmen Square protests, when he actually traveled to Asia in August, a few months later.

Politico observed this is part of a history of factual inaccuracies Walz has told about his past, in an article headlined, "Tim Walz has a tendency to misspeak. It may haunt the campaign."

"Since being tapped as Kamala Harris’ running mate, the folksy, plain-speaking Minnesota governor has had to explain a growing number of inaccurate statements — and at times embellishments — about his past," Politico’s Meredith Lee Hill and Mia McCarthy wrote. "They range from comments about his military service to his visit to Hong Kong more than three decades ago to clarifying that his family didn’t specifically use in vitro fertilization."

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"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, who are locked in a tight race with Donald Trump and JD Vance," the reporters added.

"And in some cases, key members of Harris’ circle weren’t aware of some of the inaccurate statements until they became public despite the vetting process, according to four people familiar with the conversations who were granted anonymity to discuss the matter."

The writers said, "Walz’s misstatements could