House Republican Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota accused the state’s Democratic Governor Tim Walz and leftist Attorney General Keith Ellison of covering up massive fraud committed by Somali immigrants so that they could retain that community’s vote in future elections.
In an interview with The Daily Wire’s “Morning Wire” on Wednesday, Emmer said that the best way to address rampant fraud in Minnesota would be to remove Walz, Ellison, and Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar from office. He argued that under Walz, the state government would continue to cover up fraud, a large percentage of which is allegedly committed by residents of Somali descent.
“Today there are roughly, by some estimates, about 80,000 Somali immigrants that are living in Minnesota,” Emmer told “Morning Wire.” “The vast majority of them live in Minneapolis or Hennepin County, an area called Riverside. There’s probably 50,000 to 60,000 of them right there.”
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW BELOW:
The Republican congressman said that the large Somali community, which typically votes heavily for Democrats, is key to Walz’s and Ellison’s hopes of winning reelection, since they struggle to win votes in rural Minnesota. Walz and Ellison are nearing the end of their second terms, and both announced they will seek a third in 2026.
“So what is this about?” Emmer asked. “This is about the fact that when he and Keith Ellison took office, Keith Ellison instantly set up a policy in his attorney general’s office that required his approval before any further investigations into fraud could go forward. Guess what? He’s never approved one of them.”
“They need that 60,000 to 80,000 Somali population. They need them to be voting for them. That’s what this is all about,” Emmer added. “And what ends up happening because they refuse to deal with the problem.”
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One of the recent Minnesota fraud scandals involved the “Feeding Our Future” program, which received federal funds and claimed to distribute meals to hungry children during the COVID pandemic but allegedly never did so. The vast majority of those charged in the fraud scheme were of Somali descent. A federal prosecutor said earlier this month that Minnesota’s social programs have lost at least $9 billion to fraud since 2018, a timeline that spans all of Walz’s two terms as governor.
Daycare and learning centers linked to Somali immigrants in the Minneapolis area have also come under scrutiny for suspected fraud after independent journalist Nick Shirley posted a 42-minute video last week, showing him visiting numerous daycares that have received state funding, but don’t appear to be serving any children. The Trump administration vowed to investigate the alleged fraud and deployed federal agents to Minneapolis earlier this week to conduct door-to-door checks on suspected fraud sites.
The Department of Health and Human Services also froze all child care payments to Minnesota over the fraud allegations.
Emmer said that fraud is “everywhere” in the Walz administration.
“I want to make it clear, I’m very grateful for [President Donald Trump] raising this issue, because we’ve been trying to get people to notice for the last three years,” he added. “It’s only because of what he has done that now all of a sudden people are stepping back in horror as to what’s been going on in Minnesota.”
Three Republican Minnesota representatives sent a letter to Walz on Wednesday, asking if he would commit to cooperating with federal investigations into alleged fraud.
“Minnesotans, and the American people at large, deserve answers. What has happened in our state is nothing short of an illegal transfer of money from hardworking taxpayers to criminal actors, many of whom entered our country as foreign nationals and repaid our hospitality with absolute contempt for our laws and values,” said Reps. Brad Finstad, Pete Stauber, and Michelle Fischbach.
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