A clip of Vice President JD Vance taken from an interview on Fox News that originally aired in January 2026 has resurfaced and is going viral for a second time. In the clip, Vance tells Fox host Jesse Watters that “America has a bit of a Somali problem,” before delving into talk about the rampant fraud perpetrated by Somalis in the country illegally.
Watters started off by saying, “The Democrats have a little bit of a Somali problem,” Vance chuckled before proclaiming, “America has a bit of a Somali problem.” Watters responded, “Especially the Democrats in Minnesota. Why did they just let it happen right under their nose?” The vice president wasted no time breaking down the situation.
Vance first pointed out that regardless of the fraud, the number of Somalians in the country, both legal and illegal, drawing welfare benefits is proving to be a significant burden on the system. “Well, a couple of things, Jesse. First of all, if you look at the amount of fraud in the welfare system, according to the statistics I have seen, 85% of Somalians who are in the United States, legal and illegal, are collecting some sort of welfare benefits,” Vance told the Fox host.
According to a report from Yahoo News, the vice president then added, “So that’s not to disparage the other 15%, but when you’ve got 85% of the population that is collecting welfare, that suggests that we have really done something wrong with regards to vetting, and that’s the fundamental issue. Even if there’s no fraud, 85% collecting welfare is way too many damn people collecting welfare, getting rich off the American taxpayer, while a lot of Americans struggle.”
“That’s unacceptable,” Vance continued, adding, “What’s going on in Minneapolis I think is actually representative of a broader fraud scheme that we are going to see all over the country – we’re going to see it in California, we’re going to see it in other places too – where people get rich from the American taxpayer. The Somalian fraud, for example. Day care fraud.”
“You’ve got Americans, we’ve got programs set up to make it easier for Americans to get their kids in day care, so they can have proper child care. You take that money and you siphon it off to Somalian fraudsters, that’s a double theft. Number one, that means a lot of American families can’t afford their child care. Number two, it means a lot of American taxpayers are being fleeced. It’s totally unacceptable,” Vance told Watters.
A few users on X commented on the clip, with one individual pointing out that it’s not only illegal Somalis the U.S. doesn’t want in the country collecting welfare, but anyone from anywhere without some kind of plan. “Pretty sure we don’t want ANYONE coming here to collect welfare whatsoever. If they don’t have a sponsor, a job, a plan for themselves, NO ENTRY GRANTED. Period. I’ll go even further and say we need to put a full stop on immigration whatsoever for a decade!!!” the user wrote.
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Another person commented, “If they are illegal and getting taxpayer money, it’s fraud of the worst kind. They’re stealing from our veterans, seniors, and the disabled.” A third user suggested trashing the entire federal welfare system, saying, “End the federal welfare system. Anything beyond local is too far from the people and too easily defrauded.”
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video