Tim Walz says GOP used Minnesota fraud scandal to demonize immigrants

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz shrugged off his state’s fraud scandal during an interview on Jimmy Kimmel’s show Wednesday and said it was an excuse for the Republican Party to demonize the immigrant community.

“Mixed into all of that are these multiple cases of welfare fraud that were happening,” Kimmel said. “Now I want to ask you: Did it take you an extraordinarily long time to know that this was happening? Was it just something that spread?”

Walz said no and turned on President Donald Trump, saying, “This is happening in other states. We were going back – a lot 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 where the fraud is.

Kimmel then called Trump a “Sigmund fraud.”

TIM WALZ hits back at Trump’s accusation of incompetence, avoids liability for Minnesota fraud

Governor Tim Walz spoke with Jimmy Kimmel on his show on April 22, 2026. (ABC/JimmyKimmelLive)

“Demonizing immigrant communities, particularly the Somali community. And I said what he was doing is that the programs in Minnesota, look, we’re a generous state. We’re also, like California, a payer state. We pay more than we get to support the ‘red’ states that don’t support their citizens. But they came in to try to destroy these programs and, you know, it’s rich again, destroy the programs that don’t help them through the billionaires who are committing this fraud But no, it was an excuse. “Thank God the people of Minnesota showed courage and stood up and fought back,” Walz said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

A massive fraud scheme targeting Medicaid, the “Feeding Our Future” program and others has unfolded in Minnesota over the past two years and has made headlines in recent months as more charges have been filed.

Federal authorities in Minnesota said in December that the fraud could amount to more than $9 billion, which Walz and other officials have disputed.

BLAGOJEVICH TELLS WALZ IF HE DIDN’T ‘DO’ IT, GETTING THE FIGHT DOWN: ‘MAKES ME THINK HIS HANDS ARE UNPROFILE’

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz takes the oath of office as he testifies during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, March 4, 2026. The committee examined allegations of misuse of federal funds for Minnesota’s 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 office.

“No. And I think for me, two terms is probably enough. I think we have enough people who are making careers out of it. Honestly, Minnesota has had a pretty tough year. In June of last year, we finished a legislative session – we’re split evenly, 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 shot and killed 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 got to the point: the fraud stuff on that, the Republicans took care of it, they put money in. It was just, it was most important to me that we filled the seat with a progressive Democrat, which we’re going to do now. And so, a lot of things were involved, and I have other things I think I could add.”

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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz testifies during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, 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 posing as a police officer in June 2025, according to police.