Tim Walz’s Daughter Thinks Journalist Had ‘Ethical’ Duty To Not Blow Lid Off Somali Scammers

Social media influencer Hope Walz said Monday that independent journalist Nick Shirley should not have investigated Somali-run day-care centers in Minnesota after the scandal gained national attention.

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota announced he would drop his bid for a third term Monday, days after Shirley released a 42-minute video showing him visiting various day-care centers, one of which misspelled the word “Learning” on a banner. Hope Walz complained about a lack of “checks and balances” during her appearance on Monday’s episode of One Hour Detours after initially dismissing the independent journalist. (RELATED: Tim Walz Wants Everyone To Know He Likes Fast Food Just Like You)

“Didn’t he used to make like prank videos or something?” Hope Walz asked the host, John O’Sullivan, who responded, “Yeah, but I’m talking more about the aesthetic of it. It’s the aesthetic of the person on their phone.”

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“Totally. People engage with that. It feels more trustworthy than the news to a lot of people. It does and I can’t quite like Well, you know, I have my own problems with, like, the media and like, all of that and that’s, you know, I said in a video this morning like now I can kind of be let loose and like I definitely want to have some of those conversations going forward,” Hope Walz replied. “Um, but I do like I definitely think people see somebody and they’re like, ‘Oh, this person’s, you know, I see myself in them and so I’m going to believe them,’ and that is what people definitely see in me. I think then that’s like an ethical thing on his end. Like, you know, you can’t just go and do this to people.”

Federal officials say the fraud in Minnesota’s welfare programs has increased to at least $9 billion, with the Treasury Department looking into reports that some of the money stolen in the fraud scheme went to the radical Islamic terrorist group Al-Shabaab, which is based in Somalia. The Trump administration announced a freeze on child-care spending on Dec. 31 in order to review anti-fraud measures.

Whistleblowers in Maine and Ohio have alleged that similar schemes by Somali scammers have taken place in those states, while over 500 suspicious day-care centers are being probed by independent journalists in Washington state, where one lawmaker is introducing legislation to mask information about day-care centers.

Some state employees accused Gov. Tim Walz in a Nov. 30 statement of retaliating against whistleblowers trying to raise the alarm about the fraud.

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