Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz's explanation for why he decided to get involved in politics contradicts public records and statements reviewed by the Washington Examiner.

Waltz, a former social studies teacher, has long repeated the story of how he and two students were denied entry to a re-election rally for former President George W. Bush in 2004, an incident he says ultimately inspired him to get involved in politics. According to According to sources who spoke anonymously to the Examiner, however, Walz himself was not denied entry, and public records show that the two “students” he brought to the event were actually teenagers from a different high school than the one where he teaches, and who had been publicly arguing with Bush administration staff just days before the event.

Waltz himself gives conflicting explanations for this origin story. (Related: Walz administration paid groups that advocate for police budget cuts to push labor policies)

In some versions of the story, Waltz say He was allowed into events by pointing out his history of service in the National Guard, but claims election workers barred him from other events. In line Students. Governor of Minnesota Referenced In a 2020 social media post, she referred to the students as “the children of fellow teachers.” 2022 Interview “I'm their teacher,” he told Minnesota Public Radio.

“It was at this moment that I decided to run,” Walz said. said Recalling the story in 2020, he said, “Though I had a passion for politics, I had never been deeply involved in political campaigns, and many people thought that a high school teacher and football coach had no chance of winning.”

According to the 2024 report, one minor who accompanied Walz to the rally was turned away by staff because he had a John Kerry sticker on his wallet. Talk Waltz's story is featured in the Minnesota Post.

Two teenage boys who accompanied Waltz to the rally, Matt Craver and Nick Burkhart, were heard making “detrimental comments” about Bush while waiting to buy tickets, and were confronted by staff and initially denied tickets, but then… According to Blog post from 2004 Written It was hosted by Steve Benen, a left-leaning commentator and future producer for Rachel Maddow. The couple ultimately received tickets, but Bush campaign staff later told them the Secret Service had deemed them a threat to the president and therefore could not attend the rally, according to the Examiner.

Journalists and conservative commentators have previously scrutinized Waltz for false statements, and the Harris campaign changed his biography on its website to remove references to him as a “retired master sergeant” after the Minnesota National Guard confirmed that Waltz had not retired at that rank but had been demoted before retiring. The campaign also denied that Waltz had personal ties to Muslim clerics who promoted pro-Hitler and pro-Hamas media, though footage later surfaced of the Minnesota governor calling Waltz a “master teacher,” The Examiner reported. Reported.

The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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