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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz shrugged off the fraud scandal in his state during an interview on Jimmy Kimmel’s show on Wednesday, and said it was an excuse by the GOP to demonize the immigrant community.
“Mixed into all this is this—these multiple cases of benefits fraud that were happening,” Kimmel said. “Now, I want to ask you: Did it take an extraordinarily long time for you to know that that was happening? Is that just something that has been spread?”
Walz said no and turned it back on President Donald Trump, saying, “It happens in other states. We were going back—many of these people were prosecuted in 2021. He used it as an excuse because it was a perfect thing to do to say there was fraud. Imagine that—you know, coming from this guy, he would know fraud where it was at.”
Kimmel then referred to Trump as “Sigmund Fraud.”
TIM WALZ FIRES BACK AT TRUMP ACCUSATION OF ‘INCOMPETENCE,’ DODGES ON RESPONSIBILITY FOR FRAUD IN MINNESOTA
Gov. Tim Walz spoke to Jimmy Kimmel during his show on April 22, 2026. (ABC/JimmyKimmelLive)
“Demonize immigrant communities, especially the Somali community. And I said what he was doing was—the programs in Minnesota, look, we are a generous state. We’re also, like California, we’re a payer state. We pay more in than we get back to support ‘red’ states that don’t support their people. But, they came in to try and destroy those programs and, you know, that’s again rich, destroy programs that don’t help them by billionaires who commit this fraud. But no, it was an excuse for them to do it. Thank goodness the people of Minnesota showed the courage, stood up, and pushed back,” Walz said.
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment from Digital.
A massive fraud scheme targeting Medicaid, the “Feeding Our Future” program, and more has unfolded in Minnesota over the last couple of years and has made headlines over the last few months as more charges have been handed down.
Federal authorities in Minnesota said in December the fraud could be more than $9 billion, which Walz and other officials disputed.
BLAGOJEVICH TELLS WALZ IF HE DIDN’T ‘DO IT’, GO DOWN FIGHTING: ‘MAKES ME THINK HIS HANDS ARE UNCLEAN’
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is sworn in as he testifies during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 2026. The committee examined alleged misuse of federal funds for Minnesota social services and Medicaid programs. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Kimmel also asked Walz if the fraud scandal contributed to his decision not to run for re-election.
“No. And I think for me, look, two terms is probably enough. I think we get enough of people making careers out of this. Just candidly, Minnesota had a pretty tough year. In June of last year, we finished a legislative session—we’re evenly divided, 67-67 in the House, 35-34 in the Senate—but the most extraordinary politician and person I ever worked with was Melissa Hortman, who was gunned down in June of last year,” Walz said.
He continued, “She and I were partners in doing this work, or whatever. And then the Annunciation shooting… and I think it just kind of got to the point—the fraud stuff on that, Republicans run it up, they put money in it. I just, it was most important for me that we hold the seat with a progressive Democrat, which we will do now. And so, a lot of things went into it, and I’ve got other things I think I can add.”
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz testifies during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 2026. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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Hortman, a member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), and her husband, Mark Hortman, were fatally shot in Brooklyn Park by a suspect impersonating a police officer in June of 2025, according to police.
