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By Daniel Orton and Billal Rahman
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YouTuber Nick Shirley wasted no time claiming victory after Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced he was ending his re‑election bid.
“I ENDED TIM WALZ,” Shirley declared in a blunt X post Monday, seemingly crediting his viral exposé on alleged daycare fraud for forcing the Democrat out of the race earlier that day.
Walz framed the reversal as a move to “step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work,” arguing he couldn’t devote full attention to both campaigning and confronting fraud in state programs. The decision follows national attention on a viral video Shirley posted online last month alleging misuse of childcare funds, a clip amplified by prominent conservatives and followed by a federal freeze on certain child‑care payments to Minnesota.
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Newsweek has contacted Walz's office for comment via email.
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Why It Matters
Minnesota state officials have faced a wave of escalating fraud allegations. The Department of Justice, under Merrick Garland, first uncovered welfare fraud in the state in 2022 with the "Feeding Our Future" scheme, which is estimated to have cost taxpayers around $250 million. To date, 57 defendants have been convicted and 78 others charged, according to The Associated Press (AP).
Since then, additional potential fraud cases have come to light. In mid-December, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson stated that more than $9 billion in federal funds, distributed across 14 state-run programs since 2018, could have been misappropriated.
Many of the defendants in the fraud cases are of East African descent and are believed to be part of Minnesota’s Somali immigrant community, the largest in the United States. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota, as reported by AP, 82 of the 92 defendants charged so far are Somali Americans.
What To Know
Shirley's video, which has drawn millions of views on YouTube and X, features Shirley and an associate visiting locations they say are Somali-run centers that do not provide services while receiving public money.
The video has been shared by public figures including Vice President JD Vance and Elon Musk, and has been cited by federal officials. It contributed in part to the Department of Health and Human Services freezing childcare payments in Minnesota to investigate potential fraud.
The embattled Walz, who was former Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate in 2024, has spent recent weeks defending his administration’s handling of the issue and fending off attacks from critics.
Pressure has mounted on Walz from all sides, with President Donald Trump and multiple Republicans lambasting him for what they called persistent oversight failures, while voices within the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) have questioned whether he can still maintain cohesion among the base.
The Star Tribune reported that a growing number of Democratic elected officials and activists have raised concerns about Walz’s prospects if he remains in the gubernatorial race. In recent weeks, nearly a dozen Democrats told the newspaper that they do not believe he should seek re-election.
Amid the political storm, anti-Somali rhetoric in Minnesota has also intensified. Civil rights advocates warn that framing fraud allegations around ethnicity risks inflaming prejudice and endangering immigrant families, and Walz echoed those concerns in his exit statement, blasting “conspiracy theorist right-wing YouTubers” and “the President of the United States demonizing our Somali neighbors,” calling such attacks “disgusting” and “dangerous.”
Trump earlier escalated tensions during a December 2 Cabinet meeting, saying of the Somali community: “They contribute nothing. I don’t want them in our country."
"We can go one way or the other, and we’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country," he added, during remarks in which the president also said Somalia "stinks."
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What People Are Saying
Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz said Monday: "Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who prey on our differences."
The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) Executive Director Jaylani Hussein, in a statement on December 31 responding to Shirley's video, said: “This disturbing incident raises serious concerns about the real-world consequences of anti-Somali, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim hate speech circulating online. When misinformation and dehumanizing rhetoric about an entire community are allowed to spread unchecked, acts of intimidation and vandalism become more likely.”
What Happens Next
The Minnesota DFL is expected to quickly coalesce around a new gubernatorial candidate now that Walz has exited. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon are widely seen as immediate front-runners, but final decisions may depend on internal party deliberations and how publicly prominent figures react following Walz’s announcement.
Update, 01/05/2025, 11:42 ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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