Tim Walz probably thought appearing next to Kamala Harris on the 2024 ticket only meant he’d looked more competent by comparison.
But now his fraud-boosting tenure as Governor ended any hopes he has of a political future.
And two words from Tim Walz during the VP debate just came back to totally destroy him.
Walz's October debate boast about Minnesota childcare is aging like milk
When Tim Walz faced off against JD Vance in October's Vice Presidential debate, he seized every opportunity to brag about Minnesota's childcare policies.
"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," Walz declared confidently.¹
Then came the kicker that's now destroying him: "We were able to do it in Minnesota."²
Those two words — "able to" — just became the most expensive phrase of Walz's political career.
Because independent journalist Nick Shirley just showed the nation exactly what Walz made possible in Minnesota.
Viral investigation exposes phantom daycares collecting millions in taxpayer funds
The 23-year-old YouTuber dropped a 42-minute investigation over Christmas weekend that's since racked up over 116 million views.³
Shirley visited nearly a dozen Minnesota daycare centers that were supposedly serving children and receiving massive taxpayer funding.
What he found was jaw-dropping.
Empty buildings with locked doors during business hours. A facility called "Quality Learing Center" — they couldn't even spell "learning" correctly — that allegedly received $1.9 million in government funding despite appearing completely abandoned.⁴
"This is open and blatant fraud taking place here," Shirley stated in the video.⁵
One building after another told the same story: phantom operations collecting checks while serving exactly zero children.
The video triggered an immediate federal response.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced the agency had "surged personnel and investigative resources to Minnesota to dismantle large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programs."⁶
"The FBI believes this is just the tip of a very large iceberg," Patel warned.⁷
Walz made it "easier" for fraudsters to steal billions from taxpayers
Now that debate clip is going viral for all the wrong reasons.
Walz wasn't lying when he bragged Minnesota made it "easier" to get into the childcare business.
They made it so easy that con artists could set up shell daycares, collect millions in state funds, and never serve a single child.
The Governor had previously celebrated this disaster as an achievement.
In October 2023, Walz posted on X boasting about "providing $316 million in direct funding to boost pay for child care providers."⁸
That money disappeared into what federal prosecutors now describe as "staggering, industrial-scale fraud."⁹
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson revealed the scope during a December press conference: prosecutors believe more than $9 billion may have been stolen from over a dozen Minnesota Medicaid-funded programs since 2018.¹⁰
"Every day, we look under a rock and find a new $50 million fraud scheme," Thompson stated.¹¹
The childcare scam is just one piece of a massive criminal enterprise that's been operating under Walz's nose for years.
Surveillance footage reveals fraud scheme dating back to 2018
This wasn't some recent development that caught officials by surprise.
Surveillance video from a 2018 Minnesota criminal prosecution shows exactly how the scam worked.¹²
Somali parents would drop their kids off at daycare centers, check them in, then immediately leave with the children.¹³
The daycare owners would bill the state for a full day of childcare and give the parents kickback payments for participating in the fraud.¹⁴
Federal prosecutors have been investigating these schemes since the Biden administration launched probes into COVID-19 relief fraud.
In 2022, authorities announced initial indictments in what they called a $250 million scheme to defraud Feeding Our Future, a federally funded child nutrition program.¹⁵
As of December 2025, prosecutors had charged 98 individuals — 85 of Somali descent — with more than 60 already found guilty in court.¹⁶
Attorney General Pam Bondi made clear the prosecutions aren't stopping: "We have more prosecutions coming… BUCKLE UP, LAWMAKERS!"¹⁷
Vice President JD Vance praised Shirley's investigation, declaring "This dude has done far more useful journalism than any of the winners of the 2024 Pulitzer prizes."¹⁸
Minnesota officials scramble to defend the indefensible
Walz's office rushed out a damage control statement claiming the Governor "has worked for years to crack down on fraud."¹⁹
The timing of that claim is hilarious.
Walz only shut down the Housing Stabilization Services program in October 2024 after it was already compromised by massive fraud.²⁰
Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families Commissioner Tikki Brown tried defending the state's oversight, claiming inspectors had visited each facility in Shirley's video within the last six months and found children present.²¹
But here's the problem: Shirley's video shows these "daycares" were ghost operations when he showed up during business hours.
Either state inspectors are lying about what they found, or the fraudsters got tipped off before official visits and staged the facilities to pass inspection.
Neither explanation makes Walz's administration look competent.
President Trump has called Minnesota a "hub of fraudulent money laundering activity" and made clear his administration won't tolerate this theft of taxpayer dollars.²²
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced DHS agents were "on the ground in Minneapolis right now conducting a massive investigation on childcare and other rampant fraud."²³
Those two words from Tim Walz during the VP debate — "able to" — now define his legacy as Governor.
He was able to enable industrial-scale fraud. He was able to let billions in taxpayer dollars disappear. He was able to turn Minnesota into a national embarrassment.
And he was able to hand Republicans the perfect example of Democrat incompetence and corruption heading into 2026.
¹ Nick Arama, "That Didn't Age Well: What Walz Said About Child Care Providers in 2024 Comes Back to Haunt Him," RedState, December 29, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Liz George, "Who Is Nick Shirley, the 23-year-old MAGA journalist whose Minnesota fraud story went viral?" CNN Business, December 30, 2025.
⁴ Patrick Reilly, "Tim Walz bragged about childcare business in Minnesota during 2024 VP debate before massive fraud scandal came to light," New York Post, December 29, 2025.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Erin Donaghue, "How a viral video prompted investigations into alleged fraud at day care centers in Minnesota," CBS News, December 29, 2025.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ Nick Arama, "That Didn't Age Well: What Walz Said About Child Care Providers in 2024 Comes Back to Haunt Him," RedState, December 29, 2025.
⁹ Giovanna Dell'Orto, "Half of $18B in federal funds for Minnesota-run programs may have been defrauded, official says," KSAT, December 18, 2025.
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Ward Clark, "Somali Daycare Fraud: Ripping Off Taxpayers Since 2015 (at Least)," RedState, December 29, 2025.
¹³ Ibid.
¹⁴ Ibid.
¹⁵ Erin Donaghue, "How a viral video prompted investigations into alleged fraud at day care centers in Minnesota," CBS News, December 29, 2025.
¹⁶ Kat Ainsworth, "Feds launch 'massive' investigation after viral video alleges Minnesota daycare fraud," Fox News, December 29, 2025.
¹⁷ Ibid.
¹⁸ Margaret Osborne, "YouTuber Nick Shirley gets FBI response to Minnesota fraud probe," Axios, December 29, 2025.
¹⁹ Liz George, "Who Is Nick Shirley, the 23-year-old MAGA journalist whose Minnesota fraud story went viral?" CNN Business, December 30, 2025.
²⁰ Giovanna Dell'Orto, "Half of $18B in federal funds for Minnesota-run programs may have been defrauded, official says," KSAT, December 18, 2025.
²¹ Dana Thiede, "Minnesota officials respond to day care fraud viral video: 'No findings of fraud,'" FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul, December 29, 2025.
²² Erin Donaghue, "How a viral video prompted investigations into alleged fraud at day care centers in Minnesota," CBS News, December 29, 2025.
²³ Who's Lying? Russia Claims Ukraine Attacked Putin Residence, Zelensky Says It's a 'Complete Fabrication,'" Newsweek, December 29, 2025.
