One of Governor Tim Walz's biggest opponents in next year's election is joining a call for his resignation.
Minnesota Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth (Cold Spring) telling WCCO's Chad Hartman that Gov. Walz should either resign or drop out of the governor's race over what she calls the record fraud that has happened under his watch.
"Feeding our future, autism services, housing stabilization, child care, adult daycare, non-emergency transportation. No one has been fired or publicly disciplined by Governor Walz under this failure," she explains.
Meanwhile, Governor Walz has disputed a claim by federal prosecutors that the total fraud in Minnesota's Medicaid programs could be as much as $9 billion.
The governor's office says Walz has been working for years to crack down on fraud, and has strengthened oversight- including launching investigations and shutting down programs - among other actions.
But Demuth claims whether or not Walz was aware of the fraud occurring in state programs is a moot point.
"Either way is a failure of a governor because he should be so focused on Minnesota that he knows what is taking place," says Demuth.
The governor's office says a new statewide program integrity director, and supported criminal prosecutions, show that they are fighting back against fraud that is now drawing the attention of Washington D.C. and the Trump administration.
That, and a viral video posted by a conservative social media influencer, Nick Shirley. His video, which has over 110 million views, led to a surge of federal officers in Minnesota this week and follows new allegations of fraud by day care centers run by Somali residents.
"As leader of this state and what he has allowed, he either needs to step down or announce that he is not running for reelection," Demuth adds. "Because he has not led our state to be in a better place than it was when he first took office."
Tikki Brown, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, said at Monday news conference that state regulators took the influencer's allegations seriously.
Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem posted on social media that officers were “conducting a massive investigation on childcare and other rampant fraud.” Patel said the intent was to “dismantle large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programs.”