Scandal-plagued 2024 Democratic Party vice presidential nominee Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) appears to have forged close political ties with a radical Islamist cleric in his state who has praised the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel and promoted neo-Nazi propaganda film Adolf Hitler: The Greatest Story Never Told. From 2019 to 2023, Walz either met with or attended events with Imam Asad Zaman at least five times.
Walz’s relationship with Zaman dates back to early 2019. The imam participated in a press conference in January of that year with Walz, calling on the U.S. Congress to end its government shutdown. Then, in April, Zaman delivered an invocation before Gov. Walz’s State of the State address. A month later, Zaman was again present at a Ramadan celebration hosted by Walz.
Following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, Zaman again joined Walz at a press conference where he and the Minnesota Governor called on anti-police protestors to remain peaceful following several nights of looting and violent riots.
The two met again in 2023 when Minnesota Muslim leaders met with Walz regarding security measures at mosques around the state.
In the aftermath of the Hamas October 7 terrorist attacks against Israel, Zaman declared he “stands in solidarity with Palestinians against Israeli attacks.”
The Bangladeshi cleric also approved as a social media post by Yusuf Abdi Abdulle, director of the Islamic Association of North America, stating: “Palestine has the right to defend itself.” Zaman replied to Abdulle’s words with an image of the Palestinian flag.
Aside from his support for Hamas, Zaman has also used his Facebook page to promote the 2013 film Adolf Hitler: The Greatest Story Never Told. The six-and-a-half hour-long neo-Nazi propaganda film depicts the genocidal World War II dictator as an unfairly maligned hero.