Minnesota’s fraud scandal got a new MAGA twist this week — but most of the footage is old, and prosecutions already happened under Biden.
A right-wing video going viral is recycling 2015–2018 surveillance footage and combining it with vague claims about “empty” Somali-run daycares. The real fraud cases were already investigated, charged, and prosecuted years ago.
THE DETAILS: A YouTuber named Nick Shirley posted a 40+ minute drive-by video around Dec. 26, claiming publicly funded daycares were fake fronts for fraud.
MAGA influencers and Fox News boosted it, tying the claims to Somali-Americans, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and AG Keith Ellison.
But the so-called “unearthed” footage is from a 2015–2018 case that’s already been prosecuted. Defendants were convicted under the Biden DOJ.
State officials say the specific centers in the new viral video have been inspected and found no evidence of fraud — though wider investigations continue.
THE BACKDROP:
- The biggest fraud case, “Feeding Our Future,” involved $250M in stolen federal pandemic nutrition aid — starting in 2019 and charged in 2022 under Biden.
- By mid-2024, at least 70 people were indicted and over 60 have pleaded guilty or been convicted. These prosecutions happened during the Biden years.
- The DOJ is continuing to investigate other fraud in Minnesota, like Medicaid and autism services, but it’s not some new MAGA “discovery.”
HOW TO THINK ABOUT IT:
- Yes, real fraud happened. Federal prosecutors called it “industrial-scale.” But the right is now using those facts to racialize and weaponize the story — especially against Somali-Americans.
- Trump allies are pretending like nothing was done, but Biden’s DOJ already charged and locked up many of the perpetrators.
- The goal here isn’t justice — it’s to stir up xenophobia and smear Democrats, especially those who support immigrants and invest in social programs.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Conservatives are turning old footage and real prosecutions into a new racist panic. Progressives should be clear: fraud should be prosecuted — and already is. What MAGA is doing now is scapegoating, not accountability.