(Headline USA) Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz is now claiming he lied about how many times he has visited China over the course of his career, according to Minnesota Public Radio.
Walz’s connections to—and apparent appreciation for—the Chinese Communist Party have raised concerns in recent months as the 2024 election heats up.
In what appears to be an effort to distance himself from these concerns, Walz is now insisting he misrepresented his ties to China and that he was not as involved in the communist nation as he once claimed.
In a 2016 interview, for example, Walz claimed to have traveled to China “about 30 times” as both a teacher and politician. However, Walz now claims he only visited the country 15 times, MPR reported.
“[We] asked the campaign for documentation on the additional trips, and after weeks of searching, a spokesman finally acknowledged that Walz had traveled from the United States to China ‘closer to 15 times,'” the news outlet reported on Monday.
MPR went on to explain that Walz “sometimes exaggerated his already substantial experience in China.”
One of the trips to China that Walz took doubled as his honeymoon. Walz even reportedly planned his wedding around the fifth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.
House Republicans have been investigating Walz’s ties to China, specifically to determine whether he was the target of a foreign-influence operation.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., issued a subpoena this week to the Department of Homeland Security asking for intelligence records related to Walz and his communications with Chinese officials.
🚨BREAKING: The GOP Oversight Committee has confirmed links to the CCP and Tim Walz via a whistleblower.
Tomorrow night is the VP debate between J.D. Vance and Walz. 👀 👀 👀 pic.twitter.com/0Wn8ZKU5Wl
— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) September 30, 2024
“The information required of DHS by the Committee’s subpoena will inform the Committee’s understanding of how successful the CCP has been in waging political warfare in and against the United States, how effectively federal agencies are addressing the communist regime’s campaign, and what reforms are necessary to counter this threat,” Comer said in the subpoena.
