Walz went back and forth with Fox News host Shannon Bream on a range of subjects, including his governing record on illegal immigration and well-documented history of misstatements about his life.
Under Walz, Minnesota allows illegal immigrants to receive government benefits such as free tuition at state universities and free health care if they enroll in a program meant for low-income residents.
Bream, citing a Wall Street Journal story on Walz’s immigration record, pressed him on those programs and his justification for giving taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal immigrants.
“Are those not magnets to draw people here, many times on dangerous journeys for themselves, and why should your taxpayers in Minnesota or across the states pay for those programs?” Bream asked.
“Well I think they heard me, they heard me the other night speaking passionately about gun violence and misspeaking. And I got to be honest with you Shannon, I don’t think people care whether I used IUI or IVF when we talk about this. What they understand is Donald Trump would resist those things,” Walz replied.
“I have never disparaged someone else in this but I know that’s not what Donald Trump does. They disparage everyone, personal attacks. I will own up when I misspeak. I will own up when I make a mistake.”
Walz’s interview on Fox follows his up-and-down vice presidential debate performance against Senator J. D. Vance (R., Ohio), former president Donald Trump’s running mate on the Republican ticket. Vance’s poise during the debate and deep policy knowledge drew widespread praise and polls appeared to show that the American people believed he won the debate.