Footage of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in the 2024 Vice Presidential debate went viral on Tuesday amid allegations of widespread fraud in his state.
The allegations stem from a viral video posted by independent journalist Nick Shirley showing visits to several Minnesota daycare facilities, including Quality Learning Center in Minneapolis, which appeared inactive during the visit despite receiving state childcare assistance funds.
In response, federal authorities are launching a "massive operation" in order to "identify, arrest, and remove criminals who are defrauding the American people," the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday. "Our investigative agents are conducting a massive operation to identify, arrest, and remove criminals who are defrauding the American people. We will root out this rampant fraud plaguing Minnesota."
On the same day, footage of a specific moment from the 2024 debate went viral as Walz touted his state's support for local childcare, saying it should be seen as a model for the nation.
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"As far as childcare on this, you have to take it at both the supply and the demand side," Walz said in response to one of the debate moderators addressing the "childcare crisis" in America and the debate about paid family leave. "You can't expect the most important people in our lives who take care of our children or our parents to get paid the least amount of money."
He went on to propose, "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. We were able to do it in Minnesota. And I'm still telling you this: We were listed as the best state. We're still in crisis on this. A federal program of paid family medical leave and help with this will enhance our workforce, enhance our families, and make it easier to have the children that you want."
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Footage of this moment in the debate went viral across the X platform as many critics, including Tesla founder Elon Musk called out Walz.
Voices ranging from a daycare manager to state officials have pushed back against fraud allegations. A spokesperson for the governor told Fox News that Walz has spent years working to "crack down on fraud" and has taken steps to strengthen oversight of state programs, including initiating investigations into several facilities.
"The governor has worked for years to crack down on fraud and ask the state legislature for more authority to take aggressive action," the spokesperson said. "He has strengthened oversight - including launching investigations into these specific facilities, one of which was already closed."
The manager of Quality Learning Center also pushed back on the viral video and disputed recent reports that the center was closed down.
"There's no fraud going on whatsoever," said Ibrahim Ali, the center's manager. "Kids come to us, clients come to us, their parents come to us - they're here daily, they leave on time, they come on time. There is no fraud going on whatsoever."
"We haven't closed. We've never closed," he added. "There was never a time where kids were told to stop coming. There was never a time we told our employees to stop coming. All that is false information."
Fox News Digital reached out to Walz's office about the footage of his 2024 debate going viral, and the office responded by sharing a link to an op-ed he wrote on December 15 addressing fraud scandals and his efforts to respond to them.
"But we cannot effectively deliver programs and services if they don't have the backing of the public's trust," he wrote. And our state's generosity has been taken advantage of by an organized group of fraudsters who've put their greed and self-dealing above the needs of children, seniors and people with disabilities."
He added, "Those bad actors and criminals have required us to reframe our mindset. We have turned the dial from prioritizing generous services toward greater skepticism. Any amount of fraud is too much and undermines the very programs that do so much to raise our quality of life."
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