Walz once praised Muslim leader who shared antisemitic propaganda

By Aaron Pellish, CNN

(CNN) — 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.”

“The Governor and he do not have a personal relationship. Governor Walz strongly condemns Hamas terrorism,” Hitt told CNN.

Zaman also told CNN on Tuesday 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 said.

Asked about his opinion of the Harris-Walz campaign’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war, Zaman said he was “unclear on what their stance is” but added that he hopes to see “an immediate end to the enormous human suffering and devastation this war is causing.”

As governor, Walz and members of his staff have hosted and appeared alongside Zaman on multiple occasions, including a meeting as recently as last year about a spike in security concerns at local mosques. Zaman joined Walz and other Minnesota elected officials at a news conference calling for the end of the federal government shutdown in January 2019. He delivered an invocation along with other faith leaders ahead of Walz’s annual State of the State address later that year. Walz and Zaman both spoke at a news conference featuring Minnesota elected officials and community faith leaders calling for protesters to act peacefully following the killing of George Floyd in May 2020.

In the 2018 video, Walz says he spoke to Zaman after a 2017 bombing of a mosque in Bloomington, Minnesota, and separately discussed with Zaman US policy toward Syrian refugees under the Trump administration and growing instances of Islamophobia at that time.

“To be very honest, in this space, Imam Zaman is right on this. There is Islamophobia. There is a hatred that is being stirred. There are people in leadership positions that are making this situation worse,” Walz says in the video.

This story has been updated with a response from Imam Asad Zaman.

CLARIFICATION: This story has also been updated to reflect that Zaman’s meeting last year was with a member of Gov. Tim Walz’s office. 

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