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Influencer Nick Shirley accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of child care fraud, alleging more than $110 million in taxpayer funds were paid to child care centers he claims were not operating in a 42-minute video posted to X that has since gone viral.
In the video, Shirley and his crew visit multiple Minnesota child care centers on a weekday and say they found them empty and nonoperational.
“There’s no one here,” Shirley says on camera while standing outside one of the facilities. “This is a prime example of the billions of dollars in fraud happening right now in Minnesota.”
Shirley highlighted a Minneapolis facility called Quality Learning Center, noting that the word “learning” is misspelled on its exterior sign, reading “learing” instead. He claimed the center is licensed for approximately 99 children but appeared vacant during his visit.
Shirley alleged the center received $1.9 million in Child Care Assistance Program funding in 2025, in addition to millions of dollars in previous years.
After posting the video, Shirley directly blamed Walz and his administration.
“Tim Walz and the fraudsters aren’t escaping this one,” Shirley wrote on X.
“In one day, my crew and I uncovered over $110,000,000 in fraud,” he added.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Shirley wrote. “We the people simply work too hard and pay too much in taxes to allow this to happen. They must be held accountable.”
Shirley has continued criticizing Walz online, at one point calling the governor an “American Pirate.”
“Tim is on the clock,” Shirley wrote in another post.
“He will either resign and flee to avoid accountability or be dumb enough to continue his campaign for reelection,” he added.
The video has circulated widely on social media. Elon Musk shared the video on X with the caption, “Prosecute @GovTimWalz.” Musk has previously criticized Walz, while Walz has attacked Musk for his involvement in politics.
Walz recently mocked Musk’s appearance at a rally for President Donald Trump, saying Musk “skipped like a dips**t.”
Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the House majority whip, also responded publicly to the video.
“4 million dollars of hard earned tax dollars going to an education center that can’t even spell learning correctly,” Emmer wrote on X in a post that contained a clip of Shirley’s video. “Care to explain this one, @TimWalz?”
Hope Walz, daughter of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D), is under fire after posting a Christmas Day TikTok video wishing illegal immigrants “terrorized” by federal agents a Merry Christmas — as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted operations targeting Somali communities across the Twin Cities.
“I just wanted to say Merry Christmas to all,” Walz said in the clip. “Today, I’m holding our neighbors that ICE has been terrorizing near and dear to my heart and sending them all the love and light, as well as all the unhoused folks… just anybody that may be struggling right now I’m holding very close to me.”
The 20-something political activist concluded, “This year has been a tough one for all of us.”
