Walz once praised Muslim leader who shared antisemitic propaganda

Tim Walz once praised a Muslim cleric who has spread antisemitic content on Facebook, according to video newly revealed by the Washington Examiner.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz once praised a cleric and leader in the Muslim community who has spread antisemitic content on Facebook, according to video newly revealed by the Washington Examiner. The video features Walz, who was chosen last week to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, speaking at an event hosted by the Muslim American Society of Minnesota during his first gubernatorial campaign in 2018, according to the Examiner. In the video, Walz praises Imam Asad Zaman, executive director of the organization hosting the event, as a “master teacher” and briefly touches on their shared history. “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 says in the video. “Over the time we’ve spent together, one of the things I’ve had the privilege of is seeing the things in life through the eye of a master teacher to try and get the understanding, listening today to the stories and what it means.” Walz’s appearance alongside the Muslim cleric, one of several in recent years, came after Zaman had shared a link in 2015 to a neo-Nazi propaganda film that portrayed Adolf Hitler in a positive light. Zaman had also shared a Hamas press release in 2016 mourning the death of a Bangladeshi Muslim politician, who was executed after being found guilty of war crimes. In the wake of the October 7 attacks by Hamas inside Israel, Zaman has shared anti-Israel posts on social media. On October 7, he expressed solidarity with Palestinians “against Israeli attacks” while sharing a statement from the Muslim American Society of Minnesota condemning “Israel’s recent unprovoked attacks.” Earlier that day, Zaman shared a post arguing, “Palestine has the right to defend itself.” In a statement to CNN, Harris campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said that Walz and Zaman do not have a “personal relationship.”