Walz says he’ll ‘own up’ when he misspeaks as the Democratic ticket steps up media interviews

WASHINGTON —  Nearly a week after verbal stumbles in the only vice presidential debate, Democrat Tim Walz used his debut campaign appearance on a Sunday news show to try to fend off criticism of his stand on abortion rights and “own up” to past misstatements.

The interview on “Fox News Sunday” reflected a broader media blitz by presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate as the Democrats seek to garner public attention in the final 30 days of the campaign against Republicans Donald Trump and JD Vance.

Harris has taped an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that will air Monday night. She is booked Tuesday on Howard Stern’s satellite radio show, ABC’s “The View” and “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert on CBS. Her interview on the podcast “Call Her Daddy” is scheduled to be released later Sunday. Walz will be on Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC show on Monday.

In an excerpt released from the “60 Minutes” interview, Harris tried to avoid the question of whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “a real close ally,” saying that “the better question is: Do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is yes.”

Walz’s Fox appearance also touched on the turmoil in the Middle East, with anchor Shannon Bream pressing the Minnesota governor on whether Israel has a right to preemptively attack Iran’s nuclear and oil facilities in response to Tehran’s firing of missiles against Israel. It was a question that Walz did not fully answer during his debate last week with Vance, an Ohio senator.

Walz said Sunday that “specific operations will be dealt with at the time” and he spoke of ”consequences for what they do.”

He said Israel has a right to defend itself and that Harris worked with Israel this past week to repel the Iranian attack. President Biden said last week he would not support an Israeli strike on sites related to Tehran’s nuclear program.

Walz defended a law that he signed as governor to ensure abortion protections, saying it “puts the decision with the woman and her healthcare providers.”

Trump has said he would not sign a national abortion ban into law, and during the interview Sunday, Walz was asked whether he was calling that “a flat-out lie.”

“Yes ... of course,” Walz said.

On the economy, Walz said Harris’ proposals would make life more affordable for the middle class by helping with the construction of 3 million new homes and expanding tax credits for parents. He said tariffs floated by Trump could increase costs by an estimated $4,000 a year on a typical family.

Walz also faced questions in the interview about misstatements pertaining to his military service, drunken driving arrest, infertility treatment for his family and claims to have been in Hong Kong before the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in China.

“I will own up when I misspeak,” Walz said. “I will own up when I make a mistake.”

He said he believes voters are more concerned by the fact that Vance could not acknowledge during their debate that Trump lost the 2020 election to Biden and that there could be restrictions on the infertility treatment of intrauterine insemination that Walz’s wife, Gwen, received.

“I think they’re probably far more concerned with that than my wife and I used IUI to have our child and that Donald Trump would restrict that,” Walz said. “So I think folks know who I am.”

Bream noted that Trump has come out in support of fertility treatments, even as he has said that abortion questions should be decided by states.

Boak writes for the Associated Press.