Tim Walz caught in another lie as Chamber of Commerce letter comes to light

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Kamala Harris' running mate Tim Walz has found himself engulfed in yet another controversy—this time surrounding a misleading claim he made during his 2006 run for Congress.

According to Alpha News, the Minnesota governor—who has a history of embellishing his achievements—falsely claimed that he had received an Outstanding Young Nebraskan Award from the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce. This was, however, categorically refuted.

The false award claim

Born and raised in Nebraska, Tim Walz enlisted in the Nebraska National Guard at the age of seventeen. During his 2006 campaign for the US House of Representatives, his campaign website boasted that he had received an award from the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce for his contributions to the business community.

Barry L Kennedy, the then-president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, quickly debunked this. Kennedy sent a letter to the Walz campaign, a copy of which was obtained by Alpha News. “We researched this matter and can confirm that you have not been the recipient of any award from the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce," it stated.

Kennedy's letter not only exposed the inaccuracy of Walz's claim but also brought forth the potential implications of such statements.

“I am not going to draw a conclusion about your intentions by including this line in your biography. However, we respectfully request that you remove any reference to our organization as it could be considered an endorsement of your candidacy,” Kennedy wrote in his letter dated November 1, 2006.

 "It should be pointed out, however, that the US Chamber of Commerce has endorsed your opponent, Congressman Gil Gutknecht, for his support of small business issues,” he added.

The campaign's response

Tim Walz's campaign rushed to update the information on their website. They replaced the mention of the "Nebraska Chamber of Commerce" with the "Nebraska Junior Chamber of Commerce."

Walz's campaign manager at the time dismissed the situation as a simple “typographical error,” per a report by the Rochester Post Bulletin in 2006. Regardless, the damage had already been done; and the incident resurfaced this year when Tim Murtaugh of the Trump campaign reposted the letter.

That said, this was not an isolated case in Walz’s 2006 campaign. The Washington Free Beacon uncovered yet another exaggerated claim in Walz’s biography from that period.

The bio originally stated that upon returning to the US in 1990, Walz had served full-time in the Army National Guard and had been named the “Outstanding Young Nebraskan” by the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce in 1993 for his service in education, the military, and the small business communities. However, this claim was also found to be untrue.

What's more? The Free Beacon reported another instance where Walz inflated his achievements. Walz’s biography had previously claimed that in 1989, the year he graduated from college, he had “earned the title of Nebraska Citizen-Soldier of the Year.” This suggested that Walz was the sole recipient of this prestigious award, but the reality was far less impressive.

Walz was one of 52 reservists who were invited to a brunch in Omaha for the 31st Annual Citizen Soldiers Awards, an event organized by the local non-profit Aksarben Foundation. The foundation had simply honored the 52 reservists for their military reserve service, and Walz was not singled out as the sole recipient of any award.

Pattern of misrepresentation

These incidents fit a broader pattern of falsehoods promoted by Tim Walz in his career.

Over the years, the vice presidential candidate has been accused of lying about various aspects of his background, including his retirement rank in the National Guard, falsely claiming to have served in a war, allowing others to incorrectly state that he served in a war zone, as well as lying about the timing of his retirement when his unit was put on notice for deployment to Iraq.

Moreover, Walz has also been caught lying about his DUI arrest and falsely claimed that his children were conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF) when they were conceived through intrauterine insemination (IUI).

The Harris campaign has been forced to address some of Walz's past falsehoods. They have since acknowledged and corrected two of Walz’s lies—those concerning his retirement rank and his claims of having served in a war.

Furthermore, the Harris campaign admitted that they were aware of Walz’s lie about his 1995 DUI arrest before he was selected as Harris' running mate this year.