Tim Walz defends false claims about military service and fertility issues, stating he won't apologise for ‘expressing himself passionately.'
Democratic vice presidential pick, Tim Walz offered a strange justification for making false claims about military service and family fertility issues, stating he won't apologise for ‘expressing himself passionately.'
In a recent joint interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, Walz was questioned by CNN's Dana Bash about his 2018 claim of carrying a weapon ‘in war.' Additionally, Walz was also quizzed for his statement that he and his wife used in vitro fertilisation to conceive their children, a claim that later turned out to be inaccurate.
Tim Walz responds to ‘carrying war weapon' claims
On August 29, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, appeared for a highly anticipated CNN interview. During the interview, Walz was questioned about past statements, including a 2018 video where he discussed gun violence and mentioned ‘weapons of war' that he ‘carried in war.'
“I think people are coming to get to know me. I speak like they do. I speak candidly. I wear my emotions on my sleeves,” Walz said. “I speak especially passionately about our children being shot in schools and around guns.”
Bash challenged Walz by pointing out that a spokesperson for his campaign had already admitted that he “misspoke” about carrying a weapon in war. Trump's running mate, JD Vance, took a close interest in this claim and it turned into a big argument pretty fast. Even though Walz spent 24 years in the Army National Guard, he never went to a war zone and later said he was wrong about something.
“This was after a school shooting, the idea of carrying these weapons of war,” he described the situation. “and my wife, the English teacher, told me my grammar is not always correct,” he added.
Taking a dig at Republicans for mocking his son Gus Walz during the DNC for showing support and emotion, he added, “But again, if it's not this, it's an attack on my children for showing love for me, or it's an attack on my dog.”
‘I won't apologise,' says Tim Walz after series of misstatements
Walz was again questioned about his false claim in his convention speech that he and his wife used in vitro fertilisation to conceive their children. After his wife's statement indicated otherwise, he corrected himself, saying it was a different fertility treatment. Instead of addressing these mistakes directly, he appeared to shrug off the questions ‘quite passionately.'
“I spoke about our infertility issues because it's hell, and families know this. And I spoke about the treatments that were available to us, that had those beautiful children there,” he said adding, “I certainly own my mistakes when I make them.”
“I won't apologise for speaking passionately, whether it's guns in schools or protection of reproductive rights, the contrast could not be clearer between what we're running against.” the Minnesota Governor continued.
Lastly, the 60-year-old made it clear that he is not going to insult Republicans, seemingly referring to JD Vance's comment telling Kamala Harris to ‘go to hell' regarding the Afghanistan withdrawal, which was made on the same day. For those unversed, the vice presidential picks for both presidential candidates will face off on October 1, hosted by CBS.
