Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appeared defeated during a press conference around noon as he finally addressed the Somali-linked fraud scandal that has ended his re-election bid.
Walz’s team has shifted from dismissing those who questioned or investigated the Somali-linked daycare and autism fraud as “racist” or “Islamophobic” to now acknowledging that serious corruption occurred under its leadership.
Walz still found time to attack Trump and Republicans, blaming them for “seeking to take advantage of a crisis. I don’t want to mince words here. Donald Trump and his allies in Washington, in St. Paul, and online want to make our state a colder, meaner place.”
The disgraced governor continued:
We’ve got Republicans here in the state legislature playing hide-and-seek with potential whistleblowers. We’ve got conspiracy-theorist right-wing YouTubers breaking into our daycares, demanding access to our children. We’ve got the President of the United States demonizing our Somali neighbors and wrongfully confiscating funds that migrants rely on.
Near the end of Walz’s press conference, he announced he was dropping out of the governor’s race, saying he wants to spend 2026 on governance, not politics.
Journalists were stunned when Walz dodged questions.