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Tim Walz’s Foreign Policy Record is Radical and Wrong

Kamala’s selection of Tim Walz as her running mate sends an unmistakable message: They will, if given the chance, double down on the same measures that have brought war and unrest across the world over the past four years. Americans should be gravely alarmed about the possibility of Walz being the last person advising Kamala Harris.

 

Topline Points:

  • America’s enemies will be thrilled by Kamala’s pick of Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.

  • Walz has a clear track record as a Bernie Sanders acolyte:

    • Walz has a decades-long track record of going soft on China.
    • Walz appeased Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
    • Walz is soft and wrong on the Iranian Regime.
    • Walz is soft and wrong on Cuba.
    • Walz is soft and wrong on terrorism.
    • Walz is a champion for border insecurity.
    • Walz is friends with antisemites and misguided on Israel.
    • Bernie honeymooned in the Soviet Union; Walz honeymooned in Communist China.

 

Walz is Soft on China

  • Walz’s views toward the Chinese Communist Party are way outside the mainstream consensus – but that is no surprise given his long history of pro-China behavior.  As recently as 2019, then-Representative Walz called for deepening U.S. economic engagement with Beijing despite revelations about its systemic human rights abuses.  
  • Walz stated that he “totally disagree[s]” that America should necessarily view China as an “an adversarial relationship,” called for building a “solid, lasting partnership with China,” and emphasized his hope for robust, bilateral collaboration.  Meanwhile, he opposed free trade agreements with Peru – whose top trading partner is now China – as well as Panama and Colombia, where China’s market share is ascendant.
  • He repeatedly downplayed concerns about the CCP’s authoritarianism.  In 2007, he described U.S. concerns about Beijing as full of “hyperbole” and that “the real interaction with China is much more complex.  He went on to rail against America by equating the U.S.-China relationship to that of “a drug user and pusher–except nobody knows which is which.”
  • Despite having written his master’s thesis on “genocide studies,” he has repeatedly fawned over a nation conducting the Uyghur genocide in Communist China, describing it as “amazing” and as having “no anti-American feeling whatsoever.”  Despite admitting that his students openly mocked him as the “big-nosed one” and a “foreign devil,” he insists he was treated well and that “they gave me more gifts than I could bring home.” He became so enamored with China that, of all places, he and his wife honeymooned there in 1994.
  • As governor, Walz has touted Minnesota’s “rapidly expanding” ties to the CCP.  In February 2021–just weeks after the State Department confirmed Beijing’s genocide in Xinjiang and while the world reeled from the havoc brough by China’s obfuscation of COVID-19–he underscored the state’s history of hosting “numerous senior Chinese officials.”  And as recently as March 2024, he met with Chinese consul general Zhao Jian to discuss how to enhance U.S.-China “exchanges.”  
  • Walz taught a CCP-approved course as one of the earliest Beijing-approved educators in China in 1989 and 1990 – the year of the Tiananmen Square massacre – and argued that U.S. classrooms should avoid “scary China” rhetoric and “focus on [its] complexity.”  Reportedly, he told his students to “downplay their American-ness” on a trip to China.  Holding a Chinese banner in his teaching office, he traveled to China nearly every summer between 1992 and 2003 and established a summer trip to China for Minnesota high school students.  Additionally, Walz collaborated with Beijing authorities who paid for “a large part of the cost” of the trips – a suspicious CCP action which was unusual by Walz’s own admission.
  • Walz’s educational efforts in China raise concerns that the CCP could gain an advocate in the White House for its sub-national influence strategies.  That is precisely what Sec. Pompeo warned about in February 2020 when he warned America’s governors that the CCP was “working you” and has “labeled each of you friendly, hardline or ambiguous.” 

 

Walz Appeased Assad in Syria

  • Walz’s legacy of appeasement only begins with China.  In Congress, he established himself as a legislative ally of the regimes in Syria, Iran, and Cuba – both by shielding them from measures to hold them accountable for their human rights abuses and by rewarding them with U.S. engagement.
  • After meeting with Bashar al-Assad in 2009, Walz opposed U.S. military action in Syria following Assad’s brutal chemical weapons attack against the Syrian people in 2013.  Instead, he parroted White House talking points, giving President Obama a convenient pretext to avoid enforcing his own red line.
  • After the Trump Administration conducted missile strikes in Syria in April 2017 following Assad’s chemical weapons attacks on innocent civilians, Walz said the “signal” that the Trump response sent was not “clear” and that the U.S. military needed an AUMF to authorize such action as well as “holistic strategy to address the situation in the region.”  He also parroted false binaries like: “Assad must be brought to justice, but we cannot enter into another perpetual war.”

 

Walz is Soft (and Wrong) on the Iranian Regime

  • His soft approach to Syria is mirrored by his myopia on the Iranian regime and its nuclear program.  Walz championed the JCPOA wholeheartedly, stating that he did not “know of a better deal” while its $150 billion in sanctions relief paved Iran’s warpath in solid gold.  Even as he acknowledged that the “hate and violence of the Iranian regime” would continue with the deal, he mocked opposition to the agreement, quipping that many were chasing a fanciful scenario in which Iran would learn to “love the Cowboys” and argued they were allowing “ideology to undermine” a good deal. 
  • If Kamala and Walz win, they will be tasked with preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear bomb.  But that won’t happen through weak deals; it must happen through deterrence and strict sanctions.  Yet Walz stated that economic sanctions could not be “a long term solution” and predictably missed a vote on the Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act, which mandates Treasury Department reporting on funds and assets controlled by Iranian officials and the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions.

Walz is Wrong (and Soft) on Cuba

  • Cuba’s Castro regime had few stronger allies in Congress than Walz, who repeatedly pushed the signature priorities of the Communist state.  He co-sponsored legislation to repeal the longstanding embargo, end all travel restrictions to the island, and open the Cuban export market – despite it being well-known these measures bankroll the regime and fund its rights-abusing security apparatus.
  • Walz echoed Ben Rhodes’ false claims that engagement would improve governance and conditions for the Cuban people. Walz also backed Obama’s cozying up with Raúl Castro and an economic thaw with the island, dismissing its ongoing repression.  In reality, the regime was the greatest beneficiary of the U.S. thaw at the expense of the Cuban people. Walz later displayed his ignorance of Obama’s failed policy by condemning President Trump’s return to longstanding policy as “hurting the Cuban people.”

 

Walz is Weak and Wrong on Terrorism

  • In 2007, he had the right instincts on the Iraq troop withdrawal, saying: “My fear is if the pullback of troops was either delayed or sped up based on politics, that that’s dangerous,” according to NBC. However, he later expressedstrong support for Obama’s 2011 Iraq timeline-based withdrawal, which created a strategic vacuum that led to the rise of ISIS.  He called that move “welcome news.”
  • Then, he supported President Obama’s strategy to “responsibly remove combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.” Today, Al Qaeda and ISIS are present in all 31 provinces of Afghanistan due to President Biden’s misguided withdrawal.
  • Walz joined with progressives who wanted to repeal the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs in 2017 and replace them with a weaker limited AUMF that wouldn’t have allowed U.S. forces to kill dozens of terror groups around the world.  Even President Biden has used the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs to protect U.S. troops since Walz’s shortsighted bill was introduced!

 

Walz is a Champion for Border Insecurity

  • Walz has continuously deflected any blame for the border crisis from the Biden Administration, absolving Kamala of her responsibility for promoting open-border policies.  He comically argued that “if the executive branch had their way,” border patrol would have received more aid “on day one.”  Although he once said that “the buck stops with President Trump” for the Southern Border, Walz now argues Biden and Harris hold no culpability for our border chaos.  
  • His support for open-border policies goes beyond the typical progressive talking points.  He joked he would invest in a “ladder factory” to help migrants climb over the border wall, signed legislation to grant illegal migrants free tuition for education, drivers licenses, and health perks, and signaled his unwavering support for sanctuary cities.
  • Walz repeatedly opposed common-sense border security measures on Capitol Hill–going so far as to call a border wall a “waste” of taxpayer dollars.  He voted against ending catch-and-release, increasing “credible fear” standards for asylum claims, allowing DHS to detain dangerous criminals, and other basic measures.  Walz even opposed public safety policies like the Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act, legislation to help law enforcement deport criminal alien gang members before they commit acts of violence.
  • Walz has repeatedly politicized conservatives’ legitimate national security concerns. He leveled unhinged accusations of “child abuse” at the Trump Administration for its border actions and charged it with implementing“unconscionable” and “immoral” policies.  Perversely, he accused Republicans of “despicable” behavior and “playing politics with our national security” in 2015 for seeking to reverse Obama’s unconstitutional DACA move during a DHS funding debate. 

 

Walz is Friends with Anti-Semites and Misguided on Israel

  • Walz has made no bones about his sympathy with anti-Israel protesters and willingness to pander to anti-Semitic progressive elements.  He praised “uncommitted” Democratic anti-Israel primary voters as “civically engaged” and validated their views as thoughtful and “hold[ing] competing things.”  He has even acknowledged that anti-Israel activists applying pressure to the Biden Administration “bodes well” for him.  Walz welcomes anti-Israel voices in the Democratic Party and says Democrats should court these voters.
  • You can tell a lot about a leader’s policy by who they excite.  When Kamala picked Walz as her running mate, the strongest outpouring of support came from the Squad and others elated she didn’t pick Jewish Gov. Josh Shapiro.  That should worry all of us.  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders have praised Walz, who they described as “an excellent decision” and impressive.  
  • Walz is a gleeful apologist for leading anti-Semite Ilhan Omar.  He has campaigned alongside her and repeatedly touted their association.  Americans should have no doubt that Walz would welcome those who burn American flags and chant “From the River to the Sea” to the White House with open arms.  The Harris-Walz campaign can say whatever it wants, but the proof is in his behavior and actions: He conspicuously missed a vote on the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act, a position tasked with enhancing U.S. oversight over anti-Semitic incitement.
  • His policy instincts on Israel are equally divorced from reality.  While paying lip-service to its defense, Walz has consistently backed measures that undercut its security interests, calling a premature ceasefire in Gaza “reasonable” and describing Israel’s military operation in Gaza as “intolerable.” At best, his House record was parroting empty progressive jargon on the need for “diplomacy and cooperation” in the Middle East.  At worst, he condemned the United States in 2012 for voting against the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)’s observer status at the UN, calling it a potential step towards peace and a two-state solution.  Does he even know the PLO wants a one-state solution (without Jews)?