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| - FACT CHECK: Was Walz In Hong Kong During The 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre?
2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz claimed he was in Hong Kong and China during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests during the Oct. 1 2024 vice presidential debate.
Walz was asked why he lied about being in Hong Kong during Tiananmen Massacre. Walz said he’s a “knucklehead.” Then he said, “I got there that summer & misspoke.” Then he doubled down on the lie: “I was in Hong Kong in China during the democracy protests.”pic.twitter.com/EcmNuHeiH7
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) October 2, 2024
Verdict: False
There is no evidence Walz was in Hong Kong right before or during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Local reports show that he likely did not leave for China until August 1989.
Fact Check:
Ohio Republican Sen. JD Vance and Walz met on Oct. 1 where they debated abortion, foreign policy, and the economy, among other topics. During the debate, Walz was asked about his previous claims that he was in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, which later turned deadly after Chinese security forces opened fire on student protesters.
Walz initially did not answer the question, but when pressed by CBS News moderator Margaret Brennan, he said that he “misspoke” before repeating his previous claims that he was in Hong Kong and China during the “democracy protest.”
“I got there that summer and misspoke on this, so I will just, that’s what I’ve said. So I was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protest, went in, and from that, I learned a lot of what needed to be in governance,” Walz said. (RELATED: Did JD Vance Follow Trump Would-Be Assassin On Social Media?)
Walz’s claim is false. The democracy protests occurred from April 1989 to June 1989, according to Britannica. The Washington Free Beacon and Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) both reported that Walz was in Nebraska during this time, according to multiple local reports reviewed by the outlets.
An Alliance Times-Herald found by the Free Beacon shows Walz touring “the Alliance, Nebraska, National Guard storeroom in May 1989…” MPR reported:
“And a story published in another Nebraska paper on August 11 that year said he would ‘leave Sunday en route to China’ after having ‘about given up participating [in WorldTeach] earlier this summer during the student revolts in parts of China.’ The August departure date is also consistent with WorldTeach’s 1989 promotional materials about the program. The campaign was unable to produce documentation to back up Walz’s statement that he was there during the uprising.”
The New York Times and CNN also reported that Walz was not in Hong Kong during the time and found several instances of Walz making the false claim in the past 10 years, including at a congressional hearing. For example, The New York Times also found a February 2024 podcast where he stated that he had been in Hong Kong “on June 4 when Tiananmen happened.”
Walz traveled to China to teach at a high school in August 1989, according to The New York Times. He taught English there for one year before returning several times throughout the 1990s and 2000s to lead student groups, per the outlet.
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