Walz on past false statements: ‘I will own up when I misspeak’

Vice President Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), on Sunday responded to criticism of the false statements he made in the past, saying he “will own up” when he makes “a mistake.”

During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” host Shannon Bream asked Walz about his past misstatements, which he acknowledged on the vice presidential debate stage last week by calling himself a “knucklehead.”

“What do you say to the American people who think, ‘I don’t know that I can trust this guy with all those modifications to be the potential commander in chief of this country?'” Bream asked.

“They know, and I’m very proud of my 24 years in service and my record; I have never disparaged someone else in this, but I know that’s not what Donald Trump does,” Walz said. “They disparage everyone, give personal attacks. I will own up when I misspeak; I will own up when I make a mistake.”

His remarks Sunday come after he responded to questions surrounding his past false statements on the vice presidential debate stage on Tuesday. In the past, he claimed he said he was present during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, which was later proven false after public evidence showed he wasn’t in China at that time.

Walz does not frequently repeat the Hong Kong claim, and it does not appear to be one he levies for power. It was not part of his early biographies, even those that mentioned his travels to China and the year he spent teaching abroad.