Democratic vice-presidential candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) has been accused of exaggerating his credentials and misrepresenting the involvement of Harvard University in a teaching program in China that he participated in, as reported recently.

According to a report by the Washington Free Beacon, Walz allegedly fabricated claims regarding being recognized as the “Outstanding Young Nebraskan” by the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, while also suggesting that Harvard University was responsible for selecting him for a teaching opportunity in China through a university program. The program, known as WorldTeach, was established in 1986 by several Harvard University alumni, as indicated on the organization’s LinkedIn profile.

These inaccuracies were found in an archived version of his campaign biography from 2006, during his congressional campaign.

This revelation follows previous instances where Walz made false statements, including claims about his children being conceived via in vitro fertilization (IVF), assertions of having carried weapons of war “in war,” and stating that he retired as a “command sergeant major,” when in fact he 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 publication observed that Walz’s congressional biography reportedly contained similar statements, and that a biography from 2018 seemingly suggested that Walz had been involved in teaching in China via the WorldTeach program, which is associated with 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.”

An article published in the Harvard Gazette in 2001 highlights that WorldTeach, initially established as a “student-run organization,” received sponsorship from the Center for International Development (CID) and functioned as an independent nonprofit entity:

“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.”


RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR