Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) on Thursday avoided answering tough but straightforward questions from CNN's Dana Bash about the allegations, proof and admissions of numerous lies and false statements he has made over the course of his long political career.
Bash gave Walz an opportunity to speak directly to millions of Americans who “are not sure they can take your word for it.”
But Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, his running mate, missed the opportunity to set the record straight.
Bash began by questioning Waltz about his claims (which the Harris-Waltz campaign reported but later claimed were false) that he had carried a weapon in a war, even though he never deployed to a combat zone.
She asked whether he agreed with the campaign's statement that he had misspoken.
But instead of agreeing and moving on, Waltz launched into a rambling string of statements about his own history.
“My background speaks for itself, but I think people want to know me,” he adds after a forced rundown of his resume, “I speak just like them. I speak openly. I don't hide my feelings, and I speak passionately, especially about kids getting shot in schools and around guns.”
Bash pressed Waltz, who simply replied, “Yes, that's true,” before denying the campaign's official response and blaming his mistake on poor grammar.
“We were talking about the idea of carrying weapons of war after an incident like this — a school shooting — and my wife, who's an English teacher, said my grammar isn't always right,” he added.
Walz framed the lies about his background as yet another political attack and falsely criticized concerns about the lies about his background as an attack on the job itself.
Bash did not pursue further the allegations about Waltz's military record, including his discharge rank.
Breitbart News' Christina Wong reports:[Walz] He claims to be a retired Master Sergeant, but was demoted to Sergeant Major because he did not meet the requirements to be retired as a Master Sergeant. Nevertheless, he has bragged on multiple occasions about being retired as a Master Sergeant.”
But Bash also pursued Walz on other issues he has credibly accused of lying, including his claim that his wife conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF) (she later admitted to using a different method) and repeated false statements he made during his 2006 congressional campaign about his 1995 arrest for drunk driving.
“What would you say to voters who aren't sure whether to take your word for it?” Bash asked.
Walz again refused to answer the question, saying his former students and fellow Guard members had vouched for him, even as many in the Guard, including his own unit, have publicly attacked the claims about him and his record.
“When I make a mistake, of course I admit it,” he added, though he never seemed to acknowledge any mistakes during the interview other than his poor grammar.
After his scathing remarks about former President Donald Trump, Waltz said he doesn't believe Americans who experience infertility are discounting “in vitro fertilization or intrauterine insemination (IUI),” downplaying the stark differences between the two treatments and the circumstances that lead to each.
He ended his non-answer period with the false claim that Trump would enact a nationwide abortion ban — a charge Trump has repeatedly and explicitly denied — and suggested that Trump would ban in vitro fertilization and similar procedures, despite his vocal support for families seeking fertility treatments.
On Thursday, before Harris and Waltz's interview aired, Trump told NBC that he would not only protect access to IVF, but also get the government or insurance companies to cover the costs.
Despite Waltz's non-answers and false statements, one statement stood out as an undeniable truth.
“I think people come because they want to get to know me,” he said.
Bradley Jay is Capitol Hill correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter. translation:.
