Walz had to correct his information about whether he was in China for the Tiananmen Square protests

Minnesota Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz had to answer questions about his controversial trip to China and misrepresentations about those trips during Tuesday night’s debate.

Walz said he was in Hong Kong during the deadly Tiananmen Square protests in the spring of 1989. But Minnesota Public Radio and other media outlets are now reporting that Walz actually didn’t travel to China until August of this year.

CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan asked Walz to explain the discrepancy.

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“Look, I grew up in a small rural town in Nebraska, a town where you rode bikes with your friends until the street lights came on, and I’m proud of that service,” said a visibly shaking Walz. “I joined the National Guard at 17, worked on family farms, and then became a teacher with the help of the GI Bill.”

Walz said that as a “passionate young teacher” he “had the opportunity to travel to China in the summer of 1989 – 35 years ago.”

“I came home and then started a program to bring young people there. We took basketball teams, we took baseball teams, we took dancers and we traveled back and forth to China,” Walz said, noting the trips were “trying and learning.”

“Look, my community knows who I am. She saw where I was. I’ll be the first to tell you that I put my heart into my community and tried to do my best, but I did.” “It wasn’t perfect,” Walz continued.

“And I’m a dick sometimes,” Walz said.

Walz said his commitment “from the beginning” was “to make sure I was there for the people.”

“I often talk a lot and get lost in the rhetoric. But being there, what impact it had, what difference it made in my life, I learned a lot about China,” Walz said. “I hear the criticism of it.”

Walz said he would “argue that Donald Trump should have come with us on one of these trips.”

“I guarantee you that if he praises XI Jinping over Covid, he wouldn’t do it. And I guarantee you he wouldn’t start a trade war that he ends up losing,” Walz said. “So this is about understanding the world. It’s about doing what’s best for the community, and then it’s about putting yourself out there and showing people what it’s all about.”

He added: “My commitment, whether it was through teaching, which I was good at, or being a good soldier or being a good member of Congress. Those are the things that I think are the values ​​that people care about.””

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz confused the internet on Tuesday when he accidentally declared that he had “become friends with school shooters” during CBS News’ vice presidential debate against Sen. JD Vance. (Getty Images)

But Brennan pushed back, reminding Walz of the question and again asking him to explain the discrepancy.

“All I said was that I got there that summer and I made a mistake,” Walz said. “So I’m going to say exactly what I said. So I was in Hong Kong and China when the democracy protests were happening, and I learned a lot about what needs to be considered in governance.””

Walz’s ties to China have come under scrutiny since his appointment as Kamala Harris’ running mate.

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House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., launched an investigation into Walz’s alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

Comer revealed that Walz had “collaborated and partnered” with Chinese companies, making him “vulnerable” to the CCP’s “elite capture” strategy, which aims to co-opt influential figures from elite political, cultural and academic circles, to “influence the United States.” States to the benefit of the communist regime and to the detriment of the Americans.”

Comer pointed to reports that Walz organized a trip to China for Alliance High School students while he was a teacher in the 1990s. The costs were reportedly “paid by the Chinese government.”

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Comer is investigating Walz’s private company, Educational Travel Adventures, Inc., founded in 1994, which coordinated annual student trips to China until 2003 and was managed by Walz.

The company reportedly “dissolved four days after he took office in Congress in 2007.”

Comer said Walz traveled to China an estimated “30 times.”

Comer has now issued a subpoena for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, requiring him to produce DHS records about Walz’s alleged ties to the CCP.

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During a congressional hearing in 2016, Walz said he had “been to China dozens of times.”

“I’ve been there about 30 times,” Walz told an agriculture-focused publication in 2016.

However, a Harris-Walz campaign spokesman recently said this Minnesota Public Radio that the number was “more like 15 times”.