Gov. Tim Walz won't seek re-election amid Minnesota fraud scandal
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced he won't seek re-election amid a massive fraud scandal plaguing the state. Fox News contributor Mary Katharine Ham joined 'America's Newsroom' to discuss her reaction to the news.
In the fall of 2024, the governor of Minnesota was thrust into the national spotlight as Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ "White guy tacos"-loving vice presidential nominee. But after a meteoric fall from grace, Coach Tim announced on Monday that he has danced his last political waltz.
Although he is not resigning from office — at least not yet — Gov. Tim Walz will not seek a third term leading the Gopher State. In the end, the massive scale of Somali fraud that went unchecked under his nose was just too much to recover from.
Bad news on the Somali front snowballed fast for Walz, with reports that as much as $9 billion — with a "b" — was pilfered by members of the migrant community, while the governor appeared to do little but protect the thieves.
Walz might have survived this embroglio had he taken it more seriously as the scandal broke, but the intrepid work of independent journalist Nick Shirley, whose shocking videos of empty daycare centers receiving millions from taxpayers, were likely the final straw.
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In an interesting twist, Walz’s complete refusal to place any blame on the Somali community or its leaders may well have also played a key role in his political demise.
Voters I spoke with in Minneapolis just three weeks ago — especially White voters — also were extremely reluctant to place responsibility for fraud on the migrant community. That left one set of shoulders to bear the entire weight of the scandal: Tim Walz’s.
In his remarks Monday, Walz said that given the situation, he could not devote all his energy to a campaign. Of course, he blamed that on Republicans and racism — what else?
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"We’ve got the president of the United States demonizing our Somali neighbors and wrongly confiscating childcare funding that Minnesotans rely on. It is disgusting. And it is dangerous," Walz offered as an excuse for his own incredible failings.
Ultimately, Walz decided to blow up his political career rather than be accused of racism by accurately addressing the broad, systemic fraud rampant in Minnesota’s Somali community.
From day one, the selection of Walz as Harris’ running mate — which made him a leading face in the national Democratic Party — seemed a bizarre choice. In theory, Walz was supposed to appeal to everyday White guys and give them permission to vote for a Black woman.
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There are two problems with this. The first is that "everyday" White guys like Walz approximately as much as they like watching their wives slowly pick out linens at Bed Bath & Beyond. The second is that "everyday" White guys would have no problem voting for a Black woman who was competent and didn’t cackle like a lunatic every three sentences.
As someone who spends much of his time talking to "everyday" White guys across the country, it was clear that whoever thought Walz had this appeal to male voters was someone looking at too much polling and who has never been to the Rust Belt outside of airport lounges.
In the end, it was this utter and complete lack of authenticity that also doomed the governor as the Somali fraud scandal swirled. Each of his piteous claims that critics were simply motivated by racism dug his political hole deeper and deeper.
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Watching Walz struggle to wish away one of the biggest fraud scandals in American history was more awkward than watching him try to load a shotgun. In both cases, he seemed to be trying to sell something to voters that even he didn’t really believe.
This is also a tragic day for the members of the liberal media who spent weeks defending Walz’s shambolic handling of the Somali scandal, telling us it was no big deal and that it happens everywhere. Really? If so, then why is he suddenly exiting public life in January 2027?
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Tim Walz will go down in history as little more than an avatar of White guilt — the weak, apologetic eunuch of a White guy that progressives would have all of our sons become. But today, our sons can clearly see that the real lesson is: "Don’t be that guy."
Reports indicate that Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a woman with her own presidential ambitions, may now run in Walz’s stead. This is telling, since Klobuchar, as a federal official, has none of the stench of the scandal on her that most, if not all, Minnesota state Democrat officials do.
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The good news for Walz is that now he has more time to work on his pickup truck while knocking back a few brewskies and telling tales of high school football glory — or whatever it is he thinks White guys do all day.
Good riddance, governor — and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
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