Tim Walz drops out of Guv race in the wake of alleged Minnesota scam, calls Nick Shirley 'conspiracy theorist'

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the VP pick of Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidential election, Monday announced that he is dropping out of the governor's race in the wake of the massive scam that allegedly took place under his watch.

The announcement was expected but he did not mention anything about the alleged scam and called YouTuber Nick Shirley who apparently blew the lid off the alleged scam a 'conspiracy theorist'. While the Trump administration long accused Somalis in Minnesota of fraud, the recent Nick Shirley video of a day care center with no children left the Minnesota administration with no defense though they denied any wrongdoing.

After Shirley's viral video, federal authorities have since launched an operation in the Land of 10,000 Lakes aimed at “identifying, arresting, and removing criminals who are defrauding the American people."

Read Tim Walz's statement

I won’t mince words here. Donald Trump and his allies – in Washington, in St. Paul, and online – want to make our state a colder, meaner place…We’ve got Republicans here in the legislature playing hide-and-seek with whistleblowers...

We’ve got conspiracy theorist right-wing YouTubers breaking into daycare centers and demanding access to our children..We’ve got the President of the United States demonizing our Somali neighbors and wrongly confiscating childcare funding that Minnesotans rely on.

..I cannot abide the actions of the political leadership in Washington – these opportunists who are willing to hurt our people to score a few cheap points.

They and their allies have no intention of helping us solve the problem – and every intention of profiting off of it...Which brings me to this: 2026 is an election year. And election years have a way of ramping up the politics at a time when we simply can’t afford more politics.""In September, I announced that I would run for a historic third term as Minnesota’s Governor. And I have every confidence that, if I gave it my all, I would succeed in that effort.

But as I reflected on this moment with my family and my team over the holidays, I came to the conclusion that I can’t give a political campaign my all. Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who prey on our differences.

So I’ve decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work.""I know this news may come as a surprise. But I’m passing on the race with zero sadness and zero regret. After all, I didn’t run for this job so I could have this job. I ran for this job so I could do this job. Minnesota faces an enormous challenge this year. And I refuse to spend even one minute of 2026 doing anything other than rising to meet the moment. Minnesota has to come first – always.”