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Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz has distanced himself from a Muslim leader who allegedly circulated antisemitic rhetoric online, after a resurfaced video captured the Minnesota governor praising the cleric.
A 2018 video, shared by The Washington Examiner, shows Walz praising Imam Asad Zaman, executive director of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota. The video captures Walz repeatedly calling the Muslim cleric a “master teacher.”
“I would like to first of all say thank you to Imam. I am a teacher, so when I see a master teacher, I know it,” Walz said in the clip.
Walz appeared alongside Imam Zaman several times and his administration donated more than $100,000 to his religious organization, according to the Examiner.
The conservative outlet also reported that the Muslim leader shared a link on Facebook in 2015 to a Nazi propaganda film that portrayed Hitler favorably. In 2016, the Imam also shared a Hamas press release mourning the execution of Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party leader who had been convicted of genocide, rape and torture.
In another post after the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, the cleric allegedly expressed support for the militant group. These posts have since been taken down from social media.
The Independent has been unable to verify the original posts but contacted the Harris-Walz campaign and the Muslim American Society of Minnesota for comment.
Both the Harris-Walz campaign and Imam Zaman have sought to dispel rumors that the two are close.
“The Governor and he do not have a personal relationship. Governor Walz strongly condemns antisemitism and hate in all its forms,” a Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson told The Independent.
The Muslim leader told CNN that he does not have a “personal relationship” with Walz. When asked about the antisemitic Facebook posts, Zaman said in an email that he sometimes shares links on social media “without fully looking at them.”
“People, myself included, will sometimes pass along social media items without fully looking at them. I support organizations, leaders and efforts to bring greater justice, equality and wellbeing to all people whether Muslim or Jewish, Christian or Hindu, believer or atheist. Desiring harm to people is against my faith and my personal convictions,” he told CNN.
Since he was announced on the Democratic ticket, GOP attacks have forced Walz to defend his military record and his handling of unrest in Minnesota after George Floyd’s murder in 2020.
