Gov. Tim Walz is scrambling to deflect blame as a massive Minnesota Medicaid fraud scandal continues to expose failures on his watch. He held a news conference on Friday and admitted an “organized group of fraudsters” exploited the system, but he tried desperately to shift the blame from the Somali community. He used a press conference to spread responsibility broadly, inject race into the discussion, blaming “white men” for the fraud, and even blaming Donald Trump for drawing attention to the problem.
Minnesota’s Medicaid system faces a major fraud scandal involving autism care programs. Prosecutors allege that nearly 100 clinics, primarily tied to the Somali community around Minneapolis, fraudulently billed Medicaid by falsely certifying children as autistic and paying kickbacks to parents. Authorities say millions of taxpayer dollars were funneled overseas.
Walz opened by insisting that the fraud had nothing to do with ordinary citizens, then immediately pivoted to a racially charged aside. “Look, it’s not law-abiding citizens,” he said, before adding, “If, if that were the case, there’s a lot of white men should be holding a lot of white men accountable for the, for the crimes that they have committed.”
From there, the former vice presidential candidate argued that entire communities were being unfairly scrutinized, even as he acknowledged widespread abuse inside the very populations he claimed were being victimized. Walz described what he called “secondary victims,” explaining that some providers exploited people by enrolling them in programs without their knowledge. “That there’s, there’s providers inside the community that are then victimizing the community themself by signing them up,” he said, recounting encounters with individuals who told investigators, “I had no idea I was in this program.”
Walz then did what the left does best: blame white people.
“For every crime, which of course, the majority being committed by white men, asking us to do more about that.”
Walz’s top priority seems to be protecting the reputation of the Somali community rather than addressing the fraud. He insisted that Medicaid fraud spans racial and ethnic lines and involves a relatively limited number of convictions. “This is 80 people or so that have been convicted in this, maybe some more in that, uh, of a broader ring,” Walz said, adding, “Medicaid fraud will stretch across all racial demographics, all, uh, all ethnic groups.”
He rejected the idea that any community should bear responsibility for stopping the fraud, calling that expectation unreasonable. “To blame them and say that they should’ve been responsible for stopping it, uh, I think that’s a pretty hard reach,” Walz said, falling back on a vague appeal to education and social norms. “You would hope that it’s being taught both at home and at schools and in our society.”
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“But no, I think this idea that the Somali community’s to blame for this because they didn’t do more, I, I think that’s how we got into this,” he continued.
Walz then bizarrely lashed out at President Trump for elevating the issue nationally. “All this work that’s being done, Donald Trump brought this to the attention like this is something brand new,” Walz complained. “This is not brand new, and it’s been being worked on, but he made it white hot and, um, very dangerous.”
NEW: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz attempts to shift the blame from the Somali community in the state's widespread fraud scandal:
— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 12, 2025
"It's not law abiding citizens. If that were the case, there's a lot of white men who should be holding a lot of white men accountable for the crimes they… pic.twitter.com/O7IGKMqkhS
Truth is, there is a white man who bears a significant part of the blame here. Employees at the Minnesota Department of Human Services say that Tim Walz “is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota,” alleging they warned him early, but “got the opposite response.” Instead, they allege Walz “systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, repression,” with help from Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) allies and “an indifferent mainstream media.”
His administration pumped cash through loose rules during COVID, ignored warnings, and prioritized optics over audits. Trump calls Minnesota a fraud hub — spot on — and it is under federal investigation.
I think Tim Walz knows he's toast because of this scandal, and so he is using the race card as a first line of defense
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