Tony Diver
US Editor,
in New York
02 October 2024 4:23am
Tim Walz claimed he had “become friends with school shooters” in an apparent gaffe during the vice-presidential debate against JD Vance.
The Democratic running mate of Kamala Harris appeared nervous and inexperienced on stage on Tuesday night, pausing during his remarks and making several mistakes.
In one exchange with Mr Vance on gun control, Mr Walz talked about the impact of school shootings.
“I sat in that office with those Sandy Hook parents,” he said. “I’ve become friends with school shooters. I’ve seen it.”
He appeared to be referring to the parents of school shooters, rather than the criminals themselves.
Donald Trump immediately released an image on his Truth Social account of a yard sign with the slogan: “Trump Vance 2024. Not friends with school shooters.”
Credit: CBS News Vice Presidential Debate
Mr Walz also acknowledged that he “misspoke” when he previously claimed he was in China at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre, and admitted that he had in fact travelled to Hong Kong some months after the incident.
“I’m a knucklehead at times,” he said. “I will get caught up in the rhetoric.”
Mr Walz takes an unusually liberal approach to gun ownership for a Democrat. He has spoken about his own guns, and was previously backed by the National Rifle Association.
“I was an NRA guy for a long time. They used to teach gun safety,” he said on Tuesday.
“I’m of an age where my shotgun was in my car, so I could go pheasant hunting after football practice.”
Arguing that some guns should be restricted, he added: “Sometimes it is just the guns. It’s just the guns.”
During the debate, he also talked about how his son witnessed a school shooting.
After he told that story, Mr Vance replied: “I didn’t know that your 17-year-old witnessed a shooting. I’m sorry about that. Christ have mercy.”
The post Tim Walz says he befriends ‘school shooters’ in debate gaffe appeared first on The Telegraph.
