Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is in hot water over past comments he made praising a Muslim cleric who has since shared anti-Semitic content.
The Washington Examiner reported On Tuesday, Walz called Asad Zaman of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota a “teacher” when they met in 2018, during Walz’s first run for governor.
Zaman has since celebrated Hamas’s October 7 terror attack on Israel and promoted a film glorifying Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
“I’m a teacher, so when I see a teacher, I know it,” Walz said of Zaman during a campaign stop in 2018. “Over the time we’ve spent together, one of the things I’ve had the privilege of doing is seeing things in life through the eyes of a teacher, to try to understand them.”
The Examiner also reported that Zaman had been received by the Minnesota governor on at least five occasions over the years, although the Harris-Walz campaign has objected.
Asad Zaman (left) of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota has become a political liability for Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (right)
“He and the governor have no personal relationship. Governor Walz strongly condemns Hamas terrorism,” Harris-Walz campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt told the Examiner.
Still, the Republican Jewish Coalition went after Walz for the association.
The group called it “outrageous” and said Zaman “disgustingly” claimed that he “stands in solidarity with Palestinians against Israeli attacks” after October 7.
The RJC also attacked Walz, saying that one of his “best friends includes the vicious anti-Semite Ilhan Omar,” a Democratic member of Congress who represents a Minneapolis district.
“At a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise here in our country and as Israel faces an existential war for survival, it is essential that the American Jewish community have confidence in our leaders, and it is clear that we cannot rely on Kamala Harris and Tim Walz,” a statement said. of the Republican Jewish Coalition said“Their priorities are not our priorities, and the American people will reject their radicalism and extremism in November.”
The criticism comes as Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz face a difficult political landscape within their own party over the war in Gaza.
Progressives applauded Harris’s choice of Walz because he had never accepted campaign donations from AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby.
Harris has sought to speak out harshly about Israel in the face of widespread condemnation from the political left over how Israel is waging war against Hamas to reclaim the country’s hostages, killing thousands of Palestinian civilians in the process.
But with the race looking tight, Democrats cannot afford to lose the support of American Jews, a group that traditionally votes Democratic but which former President Donald Trump believes he can steal if Democrats appear too close to the Palestinian cause.
Trump has had his own scandal involving anti-Semites.
During Thanksgiving 2022, Trump dined with Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and rapper Kanye West, who has made several anti-Semitic statements.
Trump was reportedly “very impressed” by Fuentes, though he later claimed he had no idea the young man was a white supremacist.
“Last week, Kanye West called me to have dinner at Mar-a-Lago. Shortly after, he unexpectedly showed up with three of his friends, whom I had never heard of,” the former president told Truth Social.
‘On Tuesday night we had dinner in the backyard with many members present. The dinner was quick and uneventful. Then they left for the airport.’
