Democrat vice-presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) was caught inflating his background and making it seem like Harvard University was behind a teaching program in China in which he participated, according to a recent report.
A report from the Washington Free Beacon found that Walz had lied about being “named the Outstanding Young Nebraskan by the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce,” and seemingly implying that Harvard University was behind a teaching program, and had picked Walz for “an opportunity” to teach in China through a university program. The program, WorldTeach, was founded in 1986 by several graduates from Harvard University, according to the organization’s LinkedIn page.
Both lies appear in his biography in an archived version of his campaign website in 2006 as he was running for Congress.
This comes after Walz previously falsely claimed that his children were conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF), claimed that he had carried weapons of war “in war,” and that he had retired as a “command sergeant major” when he had actually retired as a Master Sergeant.
“With his teaching degree complete, Harvard University offered Walz an opportunity to gain a new perspective on global education by teaching in the People’s Republic of China,” Walz’s biography on the archived website says. “Working in China during 1989-1990, Walz was a member of one of the first government sanctioned groups of American educators to teach in Chinese high schools.”
The outlet noted that Walz’s congressional biography had allegedly “said the same thing,” and that a 2018 biography allegedly implied that Walz had been teaching in China through the WorldTeach program, “a program at Harvard University.”
The program in question is the WorldTeach program, a nonprofit founded by Harvard undergraduates, including the Nobel Prize-winning economist Michael Kremer, in 1986. For a time, the program was funded by Harvard’s Phillips Brooks House Association, which the Harvard Crimson has characterized as “a student-run community service group” that disburses resources to an array of nonprofit organizations and facilitates volunteerism for Harvard students. WorldTeach, which is currently dormant, does not appear to have ever been an official program of Harvard.
A 2001 article in the Harvard Gazette notes that WorldTeach, which began as a “student-run organization,” was “sponsored by the Center for International Development (CID)” and was “an independent nonprofit organization.”
WorldTeach got its start as a student-run organization in the Phillips Brooks House 15 years ago. Although it is sponsored by the Center for International Development (CID), WorldTeach is now an independent nonprofit organization. The center finances eight spots for Harvard students in WorldTeach’s 2-year-old summer undergraduate internship.
People took to social media to respond to yet “another lie” from Walz.
“WTF!??” Donald Trump Jr. wrote in a post on X. “Another lie from Stolen Valor @Tim_Walz. This loser claimed for decades that he was selected to be part of a Harvard University teaching program… Only problem is that he made it up!!!”
WTF!?? Another lie from Stolen Valor @Tim_Walz. This loser claimed for decades that he was selected to be part of a Harvard University teaching program…Only problem is that he made it up!!! pic.twitter.com/lSbfoEDV1T
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) August 24, 2024
“If I had a nickel for every lie this guy tells, I’d single-handedly pay off the United States debt,” one person wrote.
If I had a nickel for every lie this guy tells, I’d single-handedly pay off the United States debt 😂 https://t.co/jnKjpaXhxs
— Cody (@c0c0blanc0) August 24, 2024
“Tim Walz is the textbook definition of a pathological liar,” Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle wrote. “He doesn’t need to lie about these things – he just does so, compulsively.”
Tim Walz is the textbook definition of a pathological liar. He doesn’t need to lie about these things — he just does so, compulsively … https://t.co/FRiakLw1v0
— Matthew Boyle (@mboyle1) August 24, 2024