The View's Alyssa Farah Griffin confronts Tim Walz on debate answer
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says he 'misled' with 'number of misstatements'
"I just speak from my heart," the vice presidential candidate responded. "I speak honestly, I speak in the moment."
By Joey Nolfi
The View cohost and former Donald Trump staffer Alyssa Farah Griffin gently confronted Vice President Kamala Harris' election running mate, Tim Walz, about his performance during the 2024 VP debate against J.D. Vance.
Walz was criticized following the Oct. 1 debate for flubbing an answer about allegedly misspeaking about being in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. During is appearance on The View, Griffin brought up the controversy as the 60-year-old Minnesota governor sat down Monday for his first-ever interview at the Hot Topics table.
"You've been asked before, but I want to ask this way, about a number of misstatements you've made about your previous military record and travels you've been in. I want to be unequivocal: Nobody lies as much as Donald Trump, nothing that you've misled on is anything on the same level, but in an era where there's so much mistruth in our politics, so many lies, can't there be no gray area?" Griffin, 35, asked the candidate. "And how would you convey to voters who may be concerned there's a trust issue?"
Tim Walz and Alyssa Farah Griffin on The View
Tim Walz and Alyssa Farah Griffin on 'The View'. ABC (2)
Walz cautioned that it is important to "be careful" about discussing the issue raised by Griffin.
"I think people do separate that between a pathological liar like Donald Trump," he added. "I do think it's important, we're careful about how we speak. Something for me, being a teacher, being a coach, I just speak from my heart. I speak honestly, I speak in the moment. In preparing for the debate, I told my team I felt like I'm at a disadvantage in a debate because my tendency is to just answer the question that you're asked as quickly as you can."
Griffin cut in, laughing as she said, "That's never what you do in a debate," before Walz finished.
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"I think the public sees this, just the massive amount of disinformation that gets out there, it is important to be detailed," he said, without directly addressing the issue. "My tendency is to just answer the question that you're asked as quickly as you can." (Entertainment Weekly has reached out to Walz's team for further comment.)
The cohosts paused for a beat after Walz's answer, with Whoopi Goldberg finally signaling that the show had to go to a commercial break.
Later during the interview, Walz declined to answer a lighthearted question from panelist Sara Haines, who asked him to say the first thing that came to his mind when he heard the name of golf legend Arnold Palmer, after Trump referenced the sportsman's genitals during a recent campaign event.
Walz's appearance marked the latest in a growing list of notable political guests on The View in recent months, with figures like President Joe Biden, Vice President Harris, Chris Christie, and Hillary Clinton all sitting with the cohosts at the Hot Topics table on recent episodes.
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Earlier this year, after Harris announced Walz as her running mate, Griffin criticized the choice as a weaker alternative to Harris selecting Pennsylvania's governor, Josh Shapiro, as her VP.
After calling Harris' decision "an extraordinary missed opportunity," Griffin cited Walz's past comments about left-wing politics as "radioactive with swing voters." Still, she also praised Walz as a "strong Midwestern messenger" and highlighted his National Guard service, while also predicting that he'd be an "effective surrogate in critical swing states" in the midwest.
Following Walz's debate against Trump's VP pick in early October, The View cohosts praised the Democratic politician's performance while calling out Vance for what they felt was ill-informed criticism after he questioned what Harris has accomplished across her four-year tenure as VP. Sunny Hostin, who skipped Walz's appearance Monday because she was "traveling," Goldberg noted at the top of the episode, even previously questioned if Vance has ever "taken a civics class," while Goldberg reminded him that Harris is "not the president."
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