Tim Walz Bragged About Child Care Success During VP Debate Before $9B Somali Fraud Scandal Surfaced
Footage has resurfaced from last year’s vice presidential debate showing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz proudly touting his state’s child care policies — before a sprawling, multi-billion-dollar fraud scandal involving Minnesota’s Somali community came to light.
During the debate against JD Vance, Walz pointed to Minnesota as a national model for expanding access to child care, saying, “We have to make it easier for folks to be able to get into [the child care] business and then to make sure that folks are able to pay for that. We were able to do it in Minnesota.”
During the VP debate last year Tim Walz bragged about making it easier for people to get into the childcare business.
Walz: “We have to make it easier for folks to be able to get into that business and then to make sure that folks are able to pay for that. We were able to do it… pic.twitter.com/hXGun6e6fe
— MAZE (@mazemoore) December 28, 2025
That moment is now drawing sharp criticism, after independent journalist Nick Shirley published a viral exposé revealing that many of the centers receiving millions in taxpayer funding were, in fact, non-operational or completely fraudulent.
In one case, a day care center with a misspelled sign was awarded $4 million, despite appearing to be shut down. Shirley’s video shows door after door in Minneapolis that should have led to thriving day cares — but instead opened to empty rooms, locked buildings, or unrelated businesses.
The backlash has been swift. FBI Director Kash Patel responded to the revelations by calling the scandal “just the tip of a very large iceberg,” and warned that those found guilty could face denaturalization and deportation. “This is not a paperwork error. This is organized, industrial-scale fraud against the American taxpayer,” Patel said.
Federal officials estimate that the fraud could total as much as $9 billion, making it one of the largest social services scams in U.S. history. While the earliest reports of daycare-related fraud date back to 2015, more recent cases involve Medicaid-funded disability scams, housing abuse, and other coordinated efforts to siphon public funds under the guise of serving vulnerable populations.
The fallout comes at a politically sensitive time for Walz, who once championed these same programs as proof of progressive governance. In a press conference held weeks before the full scale of the scandal was exposed, Walz admitted the allegations were serious, saying, “It undermines trust in government… and it undermines programs that are absolutely critical in improving quality of life.”
A spokesperson for Walz’s office told Fox News on Sunday that the governor had already taken steps to investigate some of the flagged facilities. “Governor Walz has strengthened oversight — including launching investigations into these specific facilities, one of which was already closed,” the statement read.
However, critics argue the reforms came too late — and that Walz’s debate brag now reads like a time capsule of political denial.
JD Vance, now Vice President, has remained silent on the matter so far, but multiple GOP lawmakers are calling for a federal audit of all federal funds sent to Minnesota’s childcare and health programs since 2015.
As the scope of the scandal widens, pressure is mounting on both state and federal officials to explain how so much money vanished — and how the system failed to stop it.