REPORT: Kamala Campaign Probed Walz’s Links To Chinese Communists During Veep Selection

A Democrat who once bragged about his fondness for China was questioned about potential foreign ties during Kamala Harris’ failed presidential campaign, according to multiple sources familiar with the vice presidential vetting process.

The revelation surfaced as fallout continues over the Harris campaign’s questioning of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro about whether he had ever acted as an agent for Israel, a claim Shapiro detailed in his recent memoir and confirmed by CNN.

“I told her how offensive the question was,” Shapiro wrote.

Sources told CNN that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was also subjected to intense scrutiny over his long history of praise for China and its communist system, with the campaign pressing him on whether his views and travel raised concerns about foreign influence. The outlet cited four unnamed sources familiar with the vetting process.

The questions, sources said, were not arbitrary.

Walz has a well-documented record of expressing admiration for China during his years as a teacher, including remarks praising communist ideology.

“It means that everyone is the same and everyone shares,” Walz said in 1991 while teaching.

“The doctor and the construction worker make the same. The Chinese government and the place they work for provide housing and 14 kg or about 30 pounds of rice per month. They get food and housing,” he added.

Minnesota Public Radio later reported that Walz exaggerated how often he traveled to China, raising further red flags during the vetting process.

MOON TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA – AUGUST 18: Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to reporters outside of Primanti Bros. Restaurant on August 18, 2024.

“I lived in China. And as I said, I’ve been there about 30 times,” Tim Walz said in 2016.

However, the report noted that between 1989 and 2016, such a claim would have required more than one trip per year. Walz’s team later acknowledged that he had made roughly 15 trips, not 30.

CNN reported that Kamala Harris allies disclosed the questioning of Walz in an effort to explain the breadth of the campaign’s vetting process, insisting the inquiries were routine and designed to anticipate political attacks.

“The crux of vetting is asking uncomfortable and even farfetched questions, especially ones that could be raised by your opponents,” CNN quoted a person close to campaign lawyer Dana Remus as saying.

“‘Have you ever had an affair?’ ‘Have you ever embezzled state funds?’ ‘Have you ever been an agent for another country?’ The point isn’t that you believe any of it to be true.”

The disclosures underscore how aggressively the Harris campaign sought to avoid surprises during the vice presidential search, even as critics argue the line of questioning revealed double standards when applied to Jewish candidates and those with foreign ties.

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