BREAKING: Gov. Tim Walz, Democrats’ 2024 vice presidential candidate, says he will not run for a third term as Minnesota governor. Walz’s office has scheduled a Monday morning news conference.Read more ⤵️

Minn. Dem Gov. Walz Ends Reelection Bid Amid Somali Fraud Investigation

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrats’ 2024 candidate for vice president, has ended his bid for a third term as governor less than four months after launching a reelection campaign.

Walz said in a statement Monday he decided “that I can’t give a political campaign my all” after what he described as an “extraordinarily difficult year for our state.”

The 61-year-old cited ongoing investigations into fraud in the state’s child-care programs and the fact that President Donald Trump has used the issue as a political cudgel.

“Donald Trump and his allies – in Washington, in St. Paul, and online – want to make our state a colder, meaner place,” Walz said, referring to the Trump administration withholding funds for the programs. “They want to poison our people against each other by attacking our neighbors. And, ultimately, they want to take away much of what makes Minnesota the best place in America to raise a family.”

Walz also shared an announcement on X, linking to the full statement.

“Minnesota has to come first – always,” he wrote. “Today, I’m proud of the work we’ve done to make Minnesota the best place to live and raise kids. I’ve decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work.”

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsmax on Friday night that Walz might already be under federal investigation for knowledge of Minnesota’s Somali child care fraud exposed last month by independent journalist Nick Shirley.

“I’m not going to get too far ahead of it,” McLaughlin told Friday night’s “Finnerty,” “but he should be aware that we’re looking at culpability in this.”

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., said in a televised interview Sunday that “Tim Walz better lawyer up.”

“I don’t think Walz has really comprehended the severity of this issue,” Comer said, adding that Walz declining to appear before the Congress he once served in would ostensibly amount to an admission of guilt.

My biggest frustration is that people haven’t been held accountable — slapped with handcuffs. If I could do that we would already have a bunch of people in jail,” Comer added in the televised interview Sunday.

“But the entire Trump administration is on this. We all want people in jail.”

Walz had formally announced his intention to seek a historic third term in mid-September 2025.

President Donald Trump continued his harsh words and criticism of Walz’s mental capacity on his Sunday night return to Washington, D.C.

“Somalians are ripping off our country to the tune of, it looks like, $19 billion — but that’s only what they can find,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on the trek back from the Christmas and New Year’s Eve break at Mar-a-Lago.

“Usually, when you’re looking at 19, that means it could be 50.

“But the numbers are astronomical.”

Those complicit in fraud should be deported, Trump continued.

“They’re stealing from the American taxpayer,” Trump said. “And every one of them should be forced to leave this country, including [Minnesota Democrat Rep.] Ilhan Omar, who’s a total crook, and she’s one of the leaders of it. Not the only, because she’s not that smart.”

Trump added that the gravy train is over.

“We’re not going to pay it anymore,” he concluded. “We’re not going to pay them, and we’re not going to pay California, and we’re not going to pay Illinois with that big slob of a governor that they have.”

Walz, in his lengthy statement, did acknowledge the fraud and “criminality” being uncovered in his state.

“Make no mistake: We should be concerned about fraud in our state government,” the statement read. “We cannot effectively deliver programs and services if we can’t earn the public’s trust. That’s why, over the past few years, we’ve made systemic changes to the way we do business.

“We’ve gone to the legislature time and again to get more tools to combat fraud. We’ve fired people who weren’t doing their jobs. We’ve seen people go to jail for stealing from our state.

“We’ve cut off whole streams of funding, in partnership with the federal government, where we saw widespread criminal activity. We’ve put new locks on the doors of our remaining programs, and we’ve hired a new head of program integrity to make sure those locks can’t be broken.