BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo participated in a roundtable meeting on Friday led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to discuss the ongoing, rampant welfare fraud by Somalis living in Minnesota.
'Everyone should be outraged.'
The event was attended by journalists, lawmakers, and local business and nonprofit owners.
“The thing that I found astonishing about this fraud scheme is that it was an open secret for many of the people here in Minnesota,” Rufo stated.
“What I’d like to highlight is that this is a fraud story, but ... this is also an immigration story. It’s an assimilation story. It’s a cultural compatibility story,” Rufo continued. “The reality is that the latest numbers, it seems to be that the Somali community, which represents about 1% of Minnesota’s population, is perpetrating approximately 90% of the systemic fraud in this state.”
“I think America works when America demands assimilation. And Minnesota will work when it demands assimilation to the culture of good government,” Rufo added.
He called it a “tragedy” that Minnesota, which had previously been known as the United States’ good-government capital, has had its reputation "tarnished as the fraud capital."
“Everyone should be outraged," Rufo remarked.
Bessent announced during a Friday press conference that the Treasury Department was launching multiple initiatives to put an end to the fraud rings and hold perpetrators accountable. The new initiatives included investigations into money-service businesses, lowering the reporting threshold for overseas transfers to $3,000 in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties, and a new IRS task force assigned to probe COVID-era fraud, among several other steps.
During the roundtable, Bessent revealed that there are also plans to provide incentives for whistleblowers to come forward with information.
"If these fraudsters want to turn on each other, we welcome that,” he said. “We will be offering cash rewards to whistleblowers to turn in their fellow conmen and women.”
Bessent stated that the fraud “cover-up” nearly enabled Gov. Tim Walz (DFL) to become vice president.
“What a tragedy it would have been for the American people for someone with no integrity, who was complicit and perhaps corrupt, to assume the office of the vice president,” he added.
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Antifa first rose to mainstream prominence during the summer riots of 2020. While how the group managed to recruit so many young people has remained a mystery to most Americans, domestic security expert Kyle Shideler knows its methods well.
“So as to the psychological perspective, you know, you talk about those mug shots. There’s almost, like, if you look at, over the course of 2020, there’s almost like a ‘faces of meth’ campaign,” domestic security expert Kyle Shideler tells BlazeTV hosts Christopher Rufo and Jonathan “Lomez” Keeperman on “Rufo & Lomez.”
“You see them at their first arrest, and they’re kind of fresh-faced and relatively normal-looking, and you see them in the next one and the next one and the next one, and by the end of it, you know, five years later, they’re unrecognizable. Clearly hard living, drugs, homelessness, and the like,” he continues.
“This is part of that affinity-group structure is to suck people in so that the group becomes their only social outlet. … So they get these masses of people out into the streets, and then the goal is to try to get them to engage in some criminal act, right, to get them to step over the line and then bring them further into the group,” he explains.
When they successfully get these college students to commit even just a small crime that could land them in jail, that’s when they organize their "jail support."
“You pay their bail. You tell them how much you care about them and how the movement’s going to take care of them. They get out of jail, and now they’re, you know, more tightly bound to the group. And that’s what we saw all through 2020,” Schideler says.
“And that’s what these things are really for,” he explains. “The large-scale mass-movement protests, from the point of view of Antifa, it's to slowly weed through and bring people further and further along into radicalization to be willing to do more and more radical things.”
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On Friday, independent video journalist Nick Shirley published a video on X that he claims shows widespread fraud involving purported day-care centers in Minnesota. Shirley wrote that he “uncovered over $110,000,000 [in fraud] in ONE day.” The video is the latest public allegation of fraud tied to Minnesota’s Somali community and comes as failed Democrat vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz faces renewed scrutiny over the issue.
In the video, Shirley and his team are seen traveling Minnesota and visiting addresses where federally funded day-care centers are supposed to exist. When he arrived, he often found buildings with no children and seemingly no active day-care facilities.
‘There are not enough words to describe the breathtaking failure that has happened under the watch of @GovTimWalz.’
In a clip from Shirley’s video that Education Secretary Linda McMahon shared over the weekend, Shirley is shown standing outside a day-care facility identified as “Quality Learing [sic] Center.” The sign appears to misspell the word “learning.” Shirley says that when he attempted to enter the building during regular weekday hours, it was closed and its windows were blacked out. He also claims the center received $1.9 million in government funding.
In sharing the clip on X, McMahon wrote, “There are not enough words to describe the breathtaking failure that has happened under the watch of @GovTimWalz.”
RELATED: Somali fraud inspires Democrats to assimilate to Somalian culture
Walz’s office pushed back over the weekend against Shirley’s allegations. Fox News Digital reported Sunday that a spokesperson for Walz said the governor has spent years working to “crack down on fraud” and has taken steps to strengthen oversight of state programs, including launching investigations into several facilities.
The spokesperson also pointed to the state legislature’s role in overseeing the programs and said that at least one business highlighted in Shirley’s reporting had already been shut down by Walz’s administration.
Despite the response, criticism continued. In addition to Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Vice President JD Vance praised Shirley’s work, writing on X, “This dude has done far more useful journalism than any of the winners of the 2024 [Pulitzer] prizes.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on X that the bureau is aware of the allegations circulating online. Patel wrote that the FBI had already deployed additional personnel and "investigative resources" to Minnesota to address "large-scale fraud" involving federal programs, even before the issue gained widespread attention on social media.
“Fraud that steals from taxpayers and robs vulnerable children will remain a top FBI priority in Minnesota and nationwide,” Patel wrote.
Patel also cited previous arrests and convictions as evidence of the bureau’s ongoing efforts to combat fraud in the state.
BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo disputed Patel’s characterization, calling it “misleading.” In a post on X, Rufo said Patel was taking "credit for investigations and convictions that occurred under the Biden Administration," adding that the unresolved question concerns alleged fraud that has not yet resulted in charges. “When do we see arrests, mugshots, and new prosecutions?” Rufo wrote.
Rufo previously reported on alleged fraud involving Minnesota welfare and health programs earlier this year. As independent journalists such as Shirley continue to highlight the allegations, scrutiny of Minnesota officials, including Walz and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, has intensified.
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When BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo penned an exposé on the rampant Somali fraud in Minnesota — which saw billions of taxpayer dollars go to Somalia and terrorist groups — he wasn’t aware the story would blow up like it did.
“The Somali fraud story that we’ve been talking about for the last few weeks is, to my great surprise, still dominating the headlines. And oftentimes when you’re talking about the news, you go week by week by week,” Rufo explains on “Rufo & Lomez.”
“Stories have a trajectory where they hit orbit, and then they are spinning and gaining power for weeks and in some cases more than a month. And this is one of those stories. ... We launched it, and now it’s really taken on a life of its own,” he continues.
And the Democrats, like Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, are not only refusing to realistically address the fraud; they’re making sure the story never dies.
“To our Somali community, we love you, and we stand with you. Our police, many of whom are Somali themselves, are trusted partners in keeping people safe. They will not collaborate with any federal agency around doing immigration enforcement work,” Frey announced following the news of fraud.
“Our city staff and our law enforcement will not ask the question as to whether an individual is documented or not. That’s not American. That’s not what we are about. And we’re going to do right by every single person in our cities,’ he continued.
Frey then attempted to speak in what appeared to be very painful Somali.
“That really sums it up,” Rufo jokes, before pointing to something co-host Jonathan “Lomez” Keeperman said regarding assimilation.
“You had a great point. You said the liberal myth is that these groups come and become American. But in this case, it’s the precise opposite,” he says. “These groups come, and the Americans become Somalian.”
To enjoy more of the news through the anthropological lens of Christopher Rufo and Lomez, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Last week, my colleague Ryan Thorpe and I broke a story about widespread fraud committed by Somalis in Minnesota. Members of the state’s Somali community allegedly participated in complex schemes related to autism services, food programs, and housing, which prosecutors estimate have stolen billions of taxpayer dollars. Even worse, some of the cash has ended up in the hands of Al-Shabaab, a terrorist organization in Somalia.
The story quickly reached the White House. Within days, President Trump announced that he was revoking Temporary Protected Status for all Somali migrants in Minnesota.
Progressives have suggested that our reporting and the subsequent policy change were “racist.” While many of those indicted in these schemes are Somali, these critics argue, the federal government should not hold Minnesota’s Somali community corporately responsible for the actions of individuals.
Little Mogadishu in Minneapolis has a real problem, and it is about time that our government began facing it.
This criticism is superficially appealing, but it isn’t persuasive on closer inspection.
First, a description of the facts should not be measured as “racist or not racist,” but rather as “true or not true.” And in this case, the truth is that numerous members of a relatively small community participated in a scheme that stole billions in taxpayer funds. This is a legitimate consideration for American immigration policy, which is organized around nation of origin and, for more than 30 years, has favorably treated Somalis relative to other groups. It is more than fair to ask whether that policy has served the national interest. The fraud story suggests that the answer is “no.”
Second, the fact that Somalis are black is incidental. If Norwegian immigrants were perpetrating fraud at the same alleged scale and had the same employment and income statistics as Somalis, it would be perfectly reasonable to make the same criticism and enact the same policy response. It would not be “racist” against Norwegians to do so.
Further, Somalis have enormously high unemployment rates, and federal law enforcement has long considered Minneapolis’ Little Mogadishu neighborhood a hot spot for terrorism recruitment. We should condemn that behavior without regard to skin color.
The underlying question — which, until now, Americans have been loath to address directly — is that of different behaviors and outcomes between different groups. Americans tend to avoid this question, rely on euphemisms, and let these distinctions remain implied rather than spoken aloud. Yet it seems increasingly untenable to maintain this Anglo-American courtesy when the left has spent decades insisting that we conceptualize our national life in terms of group identity.
The reality is that different groups have different cultural characteristics. The national culture of Somalia is different from the national culture of Norway. Somalis and Norwegians therefore tend to think differently, behave differently, and organize themselves differently, which leads to different group outcomes. Norwegians in Minnesota behave similarly to Norwegians in Norway; Somalis in Minnesota behave similarly to Somalis in Somalia. Many cultural patterns from Somalia — particularly clan networks, informal economies, and distrust of state institutions — travel with the diaspora and have shown up in Minnesota as well. In the absence of strong assimilation pressures, the fraud networks aren’t so surprising; they reflect the extension of Somali institutional norms into a new environment with weak enforcement and poorly designed incentives.
The beauty of America is that we had a system that thoughtfully balanced individual and group considerations. We recognized that all men, whatever their background, have a natural right to life, liberty, property, and equal treatment under the law. We also recognized that group averages can be a basis for judgment — especially in immigration, where they can help determine which potential immigrant groups are most suitable and advantageous for America.
RELATED: Chip Roy’s immigration blitz hits the lawless left and the squish right
These principles are in tension but not in contradiction. As a sociological matter, a policy of equal rights for all individuals will result in unequal outcomes among groups. This is not a sign of injustice per se. It is an inevitability. No two groups are the same, and therefore, no two groups will have the same outcomes in a system of individual liberty and equality.
The firestorm around the Somali fraud story was so intense precisely because it forced this question into the spotlight. For decades, America has given Somali immigrants special privileges through TPS. We have expected Somalis to play by the rules, contribute to the country, and assimilate into the culture. Some individuals have certainly done so, but as the fraud story suggests, many others have not. A rational government would amend its policies accordingly.
We can see the same process playing out in other parts of the world. In the United Kingdom, mass immigration from incompatible cultures is creating a civilizational crisis. Rather than replicate the policies of our sister country, we should accept reality and adopt a more thoughtful policy, which recognizes cultural norms as a reasonable measure of capacity to assimilate and to contribute.
The president should stand firm. Little Mogadishu in Minneapolis has a real problem, and it is about time that our government began facing it.
Editor’s note: This article appeared originally on Substack.
When I went to bed Tuesday night, the race for the open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court had already been called — unsurprisingly — for Susan Crawford, the ultra-woke candidate. With more than two-thirds of the votes counted, Crawford held a lead of more than 10 percentage points.
Despite complaints from Wisconsin Democrats about Elon Musk’s support for Republican candidate Brad Schimel, Crawford outspent him by a margin of roughly 2 to 1. Her campaign benefited from funding from George Soros, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D), and other wealthy backers with culturally progressive agendas. Powerful public-sector unions in Wisconsin also rallied behind Crawford, opposing Musk’s calls for reducing the influence of government bureaucrats.
Does anyone seriously believe Democrats won’t use Susan Crawford’s court victory to gerrymander two new congressional districts?
As usual, the Democratic base — racial minorities and college-educated white women — turned out in strong numbers to support her.
Watching the activist left unite behind a candidate who embraces the very ideologies that writer Christopher Rufo has documented in his research on institutional wokeness, I was reminded of the overly optimistic narratives coming from some in the conservative media.
We keep hearing that the Democratic Party is falling apart — that it’s resorting to riots and hurling obscenities because it has lost the support of ordinary voters. But these talking points ignore political reality.
The claim seems to rest on Donald Trump’s victory in 2024, which was hardly a landslide, and came against a tongue-tied mediocrity. Tuesday night’s results in Wisconsin tell a different story. With record Democratic turnout, Crawford defeated Schimel handily. The left, far from collapsing, remains highly mobilized and effective.
The cheerleading from Fox News pundits likely stems from their inability — or unwillingness — to believe that anyone could support a party as deeply unserious and radical as today’s Democrats. But the reality is right in front of us.
Why would any voter — citizen or not — back candidates who insist there are more than two genders, advocate for biological men in women’s sports, excuse the burning of Tesla dealerships, and elevate political carnival acts like Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.)?
The answer is straightforward: The left, across the Western world, is backed by immense institutional power. It enjoys the support of major financial interests, the legacy media, most of the entertainment industry, and nearly the entire education system. It also benefits from every new expansion of the electorate.
More importantly, the left plays to win — and to stay in power. Does anyone seriously believe Democrats won’t use Susan Crawford’s court victory to gerrymander two new congressional districts? Of course they will. And if they retake the House, they’ll waste no time rallying their obedient congressional foot soldiers for yet another effort to impeach Donald Trump.
Democrats will also keep using the courts to target Trump’s administration, relying on friendly federal district judges to strike down any executive action that doesn’t serve their agenda.
And let’s not forget the 10 to 20 million illegal aliens the Democratic Party has welcomed and intends to keep here — criminal gang members included. These individuals are not just here to stay; they’re here to vote. As Elon Musk pointed out, though lapdog media outlets rushed to deny it, Democratic politicians and bureaucrats have pushed to issue Social Security numbers to noncitizens — numbers that can serve as voter ID.
The left has mastered the art of weaponizing the judiciary, both in the United States and across Europe, against its already weakened opposition. It reflexively smears anyone who resists its cultural agenda — on family, gender, or borders — as a “Nazi.” And it works.
The left wins because it has more power: more institutional support, more funding, more cultural dominance. The notion that it's collapsing because it acts outrageously is laughable. That behavior energizes its base. As we saw on April 1, even in so-called purple states, that base remains large — and ready to deliver.
One major advantage the American right still holds — unlike, say, its counterparts in Germany, England, Spain, and elsewhere in the West — is a substantial electoral base. Roughly 40% of the electorate continues to resist a full leftist takeover. We also have a president willing to use whatever authority he’s given to push back against the left’s grip on the permanent bureaucracy.
These advantages matter. I’m delighted they still exist. But let’s not kid ourselves: The Democrats and their ideological allies are not vanishing. Far from it.
And there’s no reason to pretend that those who reliably vote with the left, excuse its political games, and indulge its outbursts and riots somehow share “common ground” with their opponents. That fantasy only weakens the real resistance. It promotes the delusion that if we’re just a little “nicer,” the Democrats will magically start playing fair.
We’re told we can return to the supposed golden age when Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill shared drinks and Irish jokes after trading barbs in public. If that era ever existed, it’s gone — and it isn’t coming back.
You’ve probably seen the video making the rounds today of the “Peak AWFL” meltdown in a Minneapolis yoga studio. You can see a bunch of obvious themes in this mega-cringe showdown, starting with the feminization thesis advanced by Helen Andrews and the problem of Cluster B politics that Christopher Rufo has described. But the moment […]
The fraudulent conduct of Somalis and others only gets worse because tribal behavior dominates in these non-assimilated immigrant groups.
The Department of Education cut $1 billion worth of “mental health” grants that were being used to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) ideology instead of mental health programs. The department confirmed the cuts to The Federalist, some of which were made to grants that advanced “diversity goals” that explicitly sought “non-white” counselors. The department […]
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