Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz declared in a Wednesday MS NOW interview that he will “never run for an elected office again” after dropping his 2026 re-election bid amid a massive fraud scandal involving over $1 billion potentially stolen from state programs, including free meals, housing, daycare, and Medicaid services, many tied to Somali immigrants.
In his unclear comments, Walz praised unnamed “heroes on the streets” in anti-federal agent protests for forcing action and said he’ll find other ways to serve. The scandal, with over 90 charged since 2022 and funds allegedly used for luxuries or sent overseas, has drawn criticism from Trump, Republicans, and some Democrats, prompting Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s gubernatorial bid.
“I will never run for an elected office again. Never again,” the controversial Democrat began, “There are heroes on the streets whose names we don’t know. They’re never going to run for office, and those grass-tops leaders brought this administration to their knees this week to do something about it. So there’s other ways to serve, and I’ll find them.”
Reacting to the situation, conservatives celebrated Walz’s embarrassment. In the comments under one viral reaction to the news, a user quipped, “Hard to run for elected office from a prison cell.” Agreeing, another stated, “He belongs in prison. Anything else is concession by the right.”
“Because of all the fraud he did. I hope they put him in front of a judge and jury,” demanded one conservative. “Well that’s super convenient because he was never going to get elected to an office again 🤣,” one woman joked.
A conservative declared, “Of course not, going to be hard to hold office behind bars for fraud convictions.” Agreeing, one comment noted, “Thought so. Heard talk he may run for president…I think it’s pretty obvious considering the fraud in MN — that this wouldn’t happen.”
Angered, one comment stated, “That’s the smartest thing that has ever come out of Tim Walz mouth. Good riddance, nobody will miss you.” Likewise, one more user said, “It seems Tim Walz is very proud of how generous Minnesota is with money. Maybe he should be generous with his own money and not mine.”
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For context, many Trump admin officials, including Vice President JD Vance, have speculated about Walz guilt. “I think Tim Walz should resign because it’s very clear either that he knew about the fraud in Minneapolis, he knew about welfare fraud, or at the very least, he looked the other way.” Vance declared.
Additionally, he stated, “I mean, this is not… like Lex Luthor… This is not movie villain fraud. This is the lowest-IQ possible fraud…“This is, ‘We’re going to take kids, or, sorry, we’re going to take the absence of kids and set up a daycare center where there are no children, and we’re going to call our early childhood education center the Quality Learing Center.’”
Wrapping up his commentary, Vance said, “Tim Walz is a joke. His entire administration has been a joke…He’s a guy who has enabled fraud, and maybe, in fact, has participated in fraud. That’s what this new Assistant Attorney General position is going to find out.”