Mary Benefield 3rd Vice Chair | DeKalb County Republican Party
Mary Benefield 3rd Vice Chair | DeKalb County Republican Party
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, currently the vice presidential running mate for Kamala Harris, has been implicated in another misrepresentation from his 2006 congressional campaign. According to Alpha News, Walz falsely claimed he had been named "Outstanding Young Nebraskan" by the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce.
Walz, who has a background in the Nebraska National Guard and education, initially stated on his campaign website that he received this award for contributions to the business community. However, Barry L. Kennedy, then-president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, refuted this claim in a letter.
“We researched this matter and can confirm that you have not been the recipient of any award from the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce,” Kennedy wrote. He requested that Walz remove any reference to their organization as it could be seen as an endorsement. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce had endorsed Walz's opponent at the time.
Following this revelation, Walz’s campaign amended his biography to attribute the award to the Nebraska Junior Chamber of Commerce instead. His campaign manager described it as a “typographical error,” according to a 2006 report by Rochester Post Bulletin.
The Trump campaign’s Tim Murtaugh highlighted this incident on social media with links to additional information about Walz's claims.
Further scrutiny by The Washington Free Beacon revealed other inaccuracies in Walz's biography. Another claim about being named "Nebraska Citizen-Soldier of the Year" in 1989 was also found exaggerated; he was one among 52 reservists honored at an event organized by Aksarben Foundation.
This pattern of embellishment aligns with other instances where Walz has been accused of lying about various aspects of his career and personal life, including his retirement rank in the National Guard and details surrounding his DUI arrest in 1995.
The Harris campaign has since corrected some inaccuracies regarding Walz’s military service and acknowledged awareness of his DUI arrest before selecting him as Harris’s running mate.
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