Tim Walz's "Secret Fling" with a Chinese Communist's Daughter

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Part of a series on Tim Walz. [View Related Entries]

About

Tim Walz's "Secret Fling" with a Chinese Communist's Daughter refers to a rumor that Minnesota Governor and Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz was romantically involved with the daughter of a "top official" of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during his time teaching in China as a young man in the late 1980s. Jenna Wang was the woman's name who spoke exclusively with the tabloid The Daily Mail a week before Election Day for the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election. The piece aimed to smear Walz by painting him as a communist literally in bed with the CCP. While many on the right shared critical reactions and memes, internet users on the left believed that, if true, the story made Walz cooler or more "based" as some described it.

Origin

On October 28th, 2024, The Daily Mail UK^[1] published an article called, "Kamala Harris' VP choice Tim Walz had secret fling with daughter of top Chinese Communist official during teaching stint in China." Jenna Wang, 59, was the woman interviewed in the article who claimed to have dated Walz when he was a 25-year-old English teacher in China back in 1989. Wang was reportedly the daughter of a CCP official named Bin Hui who The Daily Mail cited as a "top official" but didn't provide a rank or role.^[1]

The romance between Wang and Walz was reportedly passionate but the two ended poorly according to Wang. She said, "Tim lied about Tiananmen Square and he's lied about other things," concerning his claim about being in China during the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests, which were fact-checked during the 2024 VP Debate. Her motive for speaking was, "This is a very crucial moment in history and a man like this does not appear to have the character and integrity to do one of the most important jobs in the world."^[1]

The Daily Mail provided photos of Walz and Wang reportedly during the timeframe (shown below).

On October 28th, The Daily Mail UK posted about its article to Twitter / X,^[2] receiving over 13,000 likes in a day.

Spread

In the following days, many reacted to The Daily Mail's article via replies and quote retweets as the story spread online. For instance, on October 28th, 2024, X^[3] user @Baileymoon15 quoted the post, writing, "is this supposed to make me mad? this rules lmao," gaining over 5,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Similarly, on October 28th, X^[4] user @esjesjesj quoted the post, attaching a version of the Waow meme concerning the Tim Walz story, gaining over 1,000 likes in a day (shown below).

While many on the left humorously championed Walz, pundits on the right made passes at Walz centered on his imagined homosexuality. For instance, on October 28th, 2024, X^[5] user @ScottMGreer quoted the post, writing, "The fact that it was with a woman is the news here," gaining over 6,400 likes in a day (shown below).

Similarly, on October 28th, X^[6] user @loganclarkhall posted a spoof Norm MacDonald Weekend Update segment about "Tampon Tim" not being gay, receiving over 5,800 likes in a day (shown below).