BREAKING: Tim Walz says he ‘misspoke’ when he claimed he was in Hong Kong for the Tiananmen Square massacre

Minnesota Govenor Tim Walz claimed during the VP debate that he "misspoke" when he said he was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square massacre in China in 1989. Reports earlier that day revealed that in a 2014 congressional hearing, Walz made the false claim about being in Hong Kong while the tragedy unfolded. 

Walz was asked by CBS moderator, "Governor Walz, you said you were in Hong Kong during the deadly Tiananmen Square protests in the spring of 1989, but Minnesota Public Radio and other media outlets are reporting that you actually didn't travel to Asia until August of that year. Can you explain that discrepancy?"

At first Walz attempted to dodge the question, talking about his middle-class background and being raised in Nebraska. However, when he was pressed by the moderators, Walz stated, "All I said on this was as 'I got there that summer' and misspoke on this." 

During a 2014 hearing in Congress, Walz commented, "I was just going to teach high school in Foshan in Guangdong, and was in Hong Kong in May of ‘89." He went on to say, "And as the events were unfolding, several of us went in. And I still remember the train station in Hong Kong." Walz had continued at the time, explaining that he was teaching there though the summer of 1989.  

The Tiananmen Square massacre took place on June 4, 1989, and there had been protests leading up to the events during April and May of that year. However, local reports from Minnesota Public Radio have revealed that there were newspaper reports of Walz being in Nebraska in 1989 and did not leave to go to Asia until August later that year, after the massacre had taken place.