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Politics
Valerie M. Fridland, Professor of Linguistics, University of Nevada, Reno

Misspoke: The long and winding road to becoming a political weasel word

Tim Walz Bill Clinton Hillary Clinton Chaucer George W Bush Nixon Hong Kong Tiananmen Square
Democratic candidate Tim Walz, during the vice presidential debate in which he said he ‘misspoke’ about being in Hong Kong during Tiananmen Square protests. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

During the Sept. 24, 2024, debate, Democratic vice presidential hopeful Tim Walz said he “misspoke” when asked to clarify his story of being in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square crackdown in June 1989.

To many, Walz’s use of the word misspoke came across as an attempt to weasel out of what was at best an embellishment and at worst an outright lie.

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