CNN host Michael Smerconish said concerns about the 1995 arrest of Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, for drunk driving, is a major issue the campaign will have to address.
“The drunk driving story is inexcusable,” he said, before asking whether Walz had been properly investigated by the Harris campaign.
Walz has tried to downplay a drunk-driving arrest he had in the mid-1990s, but questions about his run-ins with police still dog him.
Who is Tim Waltz? FOX NATION Digs Deep into Vice Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris’ Life and Political Career
CNN host Michael Smerconish said concerns about the 1995 arrest of Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, for drunk driving, is a major issue the campaign will have to address. (CNN)
On September 23, 1995, Waltz was working as a teacher in his home state of Nebraska when he was stopped by police for going 96 miles per hour on a road with a 55 mph speed limit.
In comments to reporters in 2006, Waltz’s campaign, representing Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District, insisted he was “not intoxicated” and blamed a “misunderstanding” with police on “Mr. Waltz’s hearing loss,” which his campaign manager at the time said had since been “surgically corrected.”
“I don’t believe it,” Smerconish said, refuting claims that Walz’s drunk driving was related to his “hearing loss.”
“At the end of the day, the main issue is the fine, but to me, a drink driving charge is more serious than a defamation charge. It’s not because of the alcohol, it’s because of the lies,” he said.
Walz has been criticized by veterans, including former Army National Guard members who served with him, for leaving the Army National Guard before deploying to Iraq.
Mugshot of Kamala Harris’ running mate Tim Walz after his 1995 DUI arrest in Nebraska
Asked how the Harris campaign should address the controversy over language from Walz’s political career about a 1995 drunk driving case, Smerconish said the issue needed to be addressed “all over the place.” (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
Asked how the Harris campaign should address the controversy surrounding Walz’s defense of a 1995 drunk-driving conviction, Smerconish said it needed to be addressed “all over the place.”
“This could be a result of Harris’ rapid momentum as a candidacy,” Smerconish said of the vetting by Harris’ Minnesota campaign, “but I question how much they actually knew.”
Walz has argued throughout his campaign that drunk driving is related to “hearing impairment,” but a state trooper report obtained by Alpha News contradicts those claims.
“A strong odor of alcoholic beverages was detected coming from Mr. Waltz.[‘s] “Breath and human body,” the report states. Officers noted Waltz failed both field sobriety tests and a preliminary breath test.
“Mr. Walz was sloppy in his comments and should not have spoken as if the role he held was full-time when it was not,” he said.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a 2024 Democratic vice presidential candidate, is pictured in a 1995 arrest warrant photo taken after his arrest for drunk driving in Dawes County, Nebraska. (Dawes County Sheriff’s Office)
Click here to get the FOX News app
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo and Taylor Penley contributed to this report.
