Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz conceded Tuesday night that he “misspoke” in the past when he claimed that he was in Hong Kong during the crackdown in Tiananmen Square in which China’s military attacked and killed pro-democracy demonstrators.
The Minnesota governor said that he had been in Hong Kong during the summer of the Tiananmen Square protests, but not in June 1989, when the crackdown took place in and around the square in Beijing, the Chinese capital.
The admission comes after news accounts contradicted Walz’s past contention that he was in Hong Kong as the deadly protests unfolded.
Walz’s false claim that he was in Hong Kong during an epochal event in world history creates a vulnerability that Republicans will surely look to exploit.
Walz first went to China after graduating from college in 1989, stopping first in what was then the British colony of Hong Kong.
Persons:
Tim Walz, Sen, JD Vance, Walz, “ I’ve, ” Walz, “, ”, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump can’t, Hong Kong “, Harris, Walz misspoke
Organizations:
Democratic, Republican, Minnesota Public Radio
Locations:
Hong Kong, Minnesota, Beijing, China, British, Foshan, Harvard’s, Nebraska