Tim Walz's wife says she did not use IVF to have kids, contradicting a narrative that her husband has been sharing with voters on the campaign trail.

Instead, the couple used intrauterine insemination, or IUI, Gwen Walz told CNN.  

It's an important distinction because Democrats have made IVF a political football in the presidential election.

Walz lied about IVF

In intrauterine insemination, sperm is placed directly in the uterus to increase the chance of fertilization. In IVG, eggs are extracted from a woman's ovaries, fertilized in a laboratory and implanted in the uterus.

Some pro-life conservatives oppose IVF because it often involves the destruction of human embryos. IVF became a political football in February when Alabama's Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are unborn children.

Walz's wife, Gwen, told CNN they decided to speak up about their fertility struggles after the court's ruling.

“After seeing the extreme attacks on reproductive health care across the country – particularly, the efforts in Alabama that jeopardized access to fertility treatments – Tim and I agreed that it was time to formally speak out about our experience,” she said in the statement to CNN.

But her husband has played fast and loose with the truth, using his fabricated IVF story on the campaign trail to accuse Republicans of wanting to ban the popular treatment.

“Thank God for IVF, my wife and I have two beautiful children,” he said in July.

Another "misstatement"

Walz has already faced a bruising scandal for lying about serving in combat. When he came under scrutiny, Walz said he "misspoke" about carrying weapons "in war."

Did he "misspeak" when he lied about using IVF, too? That's the explanation the Harris-Walz campaign is going with: “Governor Walz talks how normal people talk. He was using commonly understood shorthand for fertility treatments.”

While many people might confuse IVF and IUI, Walz definitely knows the difference if he has been through fertility treatment.

Donald Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, blasted Walz as a "pathological liar."

"Anybody who's had a friend or themselves gone through fertility treatments, you know the difference, so why lie about it?" Vance said.

It's not a mystery why Walz lied: Democrats are trying to inflame opposition to Trump by fearmongering and mischaracterizing his rather moderate social views.

While it's already misleading to claim Trump wants to ban IVF, it's even more dishonest for Walz to invoke his personal life when he used a completely different treatment that isn't even remotely part of the political discussion.

If Walz would lie about fertility treatments and serving in war, what won't he lie about?