Gov. Tim Walz made false statements on various issues during his debate with Sen. J.D. Vance.

Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., repeatedly made false statements during the vice presidential debate with Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, covering a range of topics from Iran to border security. Here are some of his most significant inaccuracies from that night.

On the day of the debate, Oct. 1, Iran launched a series of missile attacks against Israel. Walz attributed the situation to Donald Trump, suggesting his leadership had emboldened Iran, while neglecting to acknowledge actions taken during Vice President Kamala Harris’ tenure that may have contributed. “Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon than they were before because of Donald Trump’s fickle leadership,” Walz asserted.

However, the Biden-Harris administration issued a sanctions waiver in March, allowing Iran access to $10 billion. During Harris’ time in office, Iran-backed groups have killed American soldiers and targeted Navy ships. On the same day as the debate, Iran launched a direct attack on Israel and is dangerously close to acquiring nuclear weapons.

According to Walz, Trump’s tariffs on imports will significantly raise prices, effectively acting as a 20% sales tax across the country. “Now he’s proposing a 20% consumption or sales tax on everything we import. Everyone agrees, including businesses, that this would be destabilizing, increase inflation, and potentially trigger a recession,” Walz claimed.

Trump, on the other hand, imposed tariffs during his first term without causing significant price increases. In fact, tariffs can act as a valuable bargaining tool with other nations and promote domestic production over foreign imports.

When asked if he supports abortion at any point during pregnancy, as permitted by current Minnesota law, Walz responded, “That’s not what the bill says, but look, this issue is what’s on everyone’s mind…” He then shifted the focus to blaming Trump for overturning Roe v. Wade, sidestepping the question.

However, Minnesota has no restrictions on when an abortion can be performed, as Walz signed a law permitting the termination of a pregnancy at any stage before birth. He also eliminated protections for infants born alive during an abortion and cut funding for life-saving pregnancy resource centers.

Walz asserted that Amber Thurman, a resident of Georgia, died due to the state’s abortion restrictions.

“There’s a young woman named Amber Thurman. She happened to be in Georgia, a restrictive state. She had to travel a long distance to North Carolina to try and get her care. Amber Thurman died in that journey back and forth,” Walz said. 

In reality, however, Thurman died from the abortion pill, which Democrats like Walz advocate for making widely accessible. Democrats have been using this woman’s death to instill fear about pro-life legislation.

Despite the surge in illegal immigration since Biden and Harris took office, Walz claimed that border crossings have actually decreased. “Crossings are down compared to when Donald Trump left office,” Walz stated.

In 2020, U.S.-Mexico border apprehensions were under 500,000. After Biden took office, those numbers soared, reaching 2.05 million in 2023, according to The New York Times. In September 2023, border patrol recorded over 218,000 encounters at the southern border, with more than 269,000 the previous month.

Walz has endorsed radical policies such as mass amnesty for undocumented immigrants, celebrated the influx of immigration in a small Minnesota town, and proposed free healthcare and college for undocumented individuals.

Walz argued that extreme climate policies do not hinder job creation, stating, “Reducing our impact is absolutely critical. But this is not a false choice. You can do that while also creating jobs.”

However, Harris has previously backed the socialist Green New Deal, which is estimated to eliminate 1.4 million jobs. Both candidates on the ticket have endorsed extreme climate policies, with Harris advocating for bans on fracking and carbon taxes, while Walz aims for 100% carbon-free energy in Minnesota by 2040.

It seems Walz is unaware of the politically motivated prosecutions against Trump, as he pretended to express concern about imprisoning political opponents. “The thing I’m most concerned about is the idea of imprisoning your political opponents,” he stated.

Forget about the arrests of elderly pro-life protesters and clergy, the FBI’s election interference targeting Trump, the denial of due process for January 6 detainees, or the Department of Homeland Security labeling religion as a sign of “extremism.” These instances reflect the weaponization of the justice system that has intensified under the Biden/Harris administration.

Walz asserted that Harris is not trying to take Americans’ guns, stating, “No one’s trying to scaremonger and say we’re taking your guns.”

However, Harris has repeatedly demonstrated her strong anti-gun stance, stating in 2020 that the government should compel gun owners to sell any unapproved firearms. After Democrats removed Biden from the ticket, she emphasized gun control in her first speech as the presumptive nominee.

The moderator questioned Walz about his earlier statements claiming he was in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, despite actually being in Nebraska at the time. “Many times I talk a lot and get caught up in the rhetoric, but being there and the impact it had on my life taught me a lot about China,” Walz explained during the debate.

The moderator pushed Walz to answer. “I got there that summer and misspoke on this. So that’s what I’ve said. So I was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protests,” Walz replied.

Walz indeed has a significant history with China, traveling there almost every summer from 1992 to 2003, even spending his honeymoon there. Congress has recently subpoenaed the Department of Homeland Security for records regarding Walz’s connections to China.

After moderator Margaret Brennan “fact-checked” Vance, pointing out that many Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, “have legal status,” Vance explained that undocumented immigrants can use the “CBP One App” to bypass the standard approval process for obtaining legal status in the U.S. “with a wave of a Kamala Harris open border wand.” As the moderator interrupted Vance, Walz interjected, stating, “those laws have been on the books since 1990.”

While Walz may have misunderstood Vance, his comment seemed to refer to the CBP One App. If that was the case, it was inaccurate, as the agency introduced the app in 2020 and expanded it in 2023.

Walz portrayed himself and Harris as the candidates who support unions and domestic manufacturing while addressing the issue of foreign jobs being outsourced.

“I’m a union guy on this. I’m not a guy that wanted to ship things overseas,” Walz claimed. “Kamala Harris has a record — 250,000 more manufacturing jobs just out of the IRA [Inflation Reduction Act].”

However, Trump is also considered a “union guy,” with most Teamsters members backing him over Harris and bringing union members on stage during rallies. While Walz touted that the Biden-Harris administration created 250,000 manufacturing jobs, this falls short compared to Trump’s total of 510,000 manufacturing jobs, including 264,000 added in 2018 alone.

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