{"id":2527748,"date":"2026-01-01T04:44:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T09:44:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-tests-walz-as-democratic-boogeyman\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T04:49:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T09:49:45","slug":"trump-tests-walz-as-democratic-boogeyman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-tests-walz-as-democratic-boogeyman\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump tests Walz as Democratic boogeyman"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-tests-walz-as-democratic-boogeyman%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2527748&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A Washington Examiner article describes how revelations of widespread fraud involving members of Minnesota&#8217;s Somali community have become a political opening for former President Donald Trump to attack Gov. Tim Walz. The fraud &#8211; tied to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/oregon-lost-track-of-426-million-in-federal-pandemic-funds-for-emergency-rental-assistance\/\" title=\"Oregon misplaced 6 million in federal pandemic funds for emergency rental assistance\">pandemic-era funds<\/a> and prompting dozens of federal prosecutions &#8211; has allowed Republicans to link fiscal mismanagement and immigration concerns and to push for denaturalization or deportation in some cases. Walz says his administration tightened oversight once the schemes were exposed, but the White House and congressional allies have expanded investigations and temporarily withheld federal money, including a $5.5 million hold from the Small Business Administration. Trump&#8217;s attacks have included inflammatory language, and some GOP operatives see Walz as convenient short-term political fodder, though they expect higher-profile Democrats (like California Gov.Gavin Newsom or New York figures) to remain primary targets. Democrats argue the scandal is &#8220;in the weeds&#8221; compared with border imagery and may not sway broader electorates, and they contend trump&#8217;s focus could energize walz&#8217;s supporters. Federal officials, including FBI Director Kash Patel and Homeland Security figures, have signaled plans for additional investigative resources, with <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >recent reporting highlighting suspicious daycare payments<\/a> that drew renewed scrutiny.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Trump tests Tim Walz as Democratic boogeyman after Somali fraud scandal<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2453892\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The revelation of widespread <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3909591\/democrats-think-trump-minnesota-immigration-pivot-lacks-legs\/\">fraud<\/a> committed by members of Minnesota&rsquo;s Somali community is a political gift for President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4356273\/trump-empathizes-bill-clinton-others-featured-epstein-document\/\">Donald Trump<\/a>, allowing him to elevate Gov. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tim-walz\/\">Tim Walz<\/a> (D-MN) as a sorely needed foil for Republicans ahead of the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2026-elections\/\">midterm elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But veteran campaign operatives for both parties expect that Walz&rsquo;s status as a Democratic boogeyman will be short-lived, and that Republicans will inevitably look back to California or New York, where bigger-name figures are dominating GOP claims of socialism and incompetence.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4378897\/mamdani-inaugurated-new-york-mayor-midnight-what-to-know\/\">Mamdani will be inaugurated as New York City mayor at midnight: What to know<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4375299\/eric-adams-attendance-mamdani-inauguration\/\">Adams commits to attending Mamdani inauguration after speaking with mayor-elect<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4375305\/democrat-hardman-iowa-senate-special-election\/\">Democrat Renee Hardman wins Iowa Senate special election, denying GOP supermajority<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Trump has heaped attacks on Walz in the weeks <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/minnesota-fraud\/\">after the fraud became a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-data-for-masked-vs-unmasked-counties-would-be-on-every-front-page-if-it-showed-a-different-result\/\" title=\"This Data For Masked Vs Unmasked Counties Would Be On Every Front Page, If It Showed a Different Result\">national news story<\/a><\/a>, with the president and Republicans more broadly questioning how hundreds of millions in federal dollars were squandered under Walz&rsquo;s watch. The fraud represents the latest misuse of pandemic-era funds and has become a ballooning case for the Justice Department, which has prosecuted dozens of alleged conspirators.<\/p>\n<p>But the story also has a political dimension that ties together the GOP&rsquo;s emphasis on fiscal responsibility with the hard line it has drawn on immigration. FBI Director Kash Patel said that his agency is working with immigration authorities for &ldquo;possible further denaturalization and deportation proceedings.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Walz has defended his handling of the fraud allegations, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/tim-walz-pushes-back-minnesota-fraud-allegations-following-viral-daycare-video\">telling<\/a> Fox News that his office &ldquo;strengthened oversight&rdquo; once the schemes came to light. But that defense has not quieted the criticism, as the Trump administration and its congressional allies expand investigations into suspected misconduct and even begin to withhold federal dollars.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Trump has blamed Democratic policies for an influx of immigrants he says are &ldquo;completely taking over&rdquo; the country, and has hurled insults at Walz, drawing controversy for calling him a dated slur for intellectually disabled people.<\/p>\n<p>Republican operatives concede that the focus on Walz, the former running mate of Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, is easy political fodder after an election cycle spent portraying him as an inept and radical governor. And in an election season in which Walz is seeking a rare third term in office, the attacks could prove fruitful in a blue state where Republicans are hoping to make inroads.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Republicans believe that &ldquo;even Democrats&rdquo; don&rsquo;t want Walz as a candidate in future general elections, and that Democratic politicians such as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), a possible 2028 contender for president, or New York Mayor <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/zohran-mamdani\/\">Zohran Mamdani<\/a>, an avowed socialist, will prove the most useful in this and future cycles.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s be honest. This is a guy who made Kamala Harris seem like an expert debater,&rdquo; said one out-of-government adviser to the president, a veteran of all three of his presidential campaigns. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll have our fun, but I&rsquo;m not sure that even an expert brander like President Trump can just wish this one into reality.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A second Trump veteran, who previously worked in the White House but has since grown frustrated with the president&rsquo;s performance in office, said Trump&rsquo;s focus on Walz and &ldquo;the past&rdquo; will eventually wear on voters&rsquo; nerves, considering Trump&rsquo;s declining approval ratings.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;America elected President Trump in 2024 to save us from the economic disaster that a Harris-Walz administration would inflict,&rdquo; the former Trump staffer explained. &ldquo;But that was over a year ago, and we&rsquo;re more or less in the same place. We&rsquo;re still dealing with crazy inflation, and all the economic growth we&rsquo;ve seen this year is propped up by just a handful of tech companies, which the administration is heavily subsidizing by the way. He needs to actually deliver some real results and fix these problems, not just b**** and moan about how much worse things would&rsquo;ve been if he hadn&rsquo;t won.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/immigration\/4363619\/how-denaturalization-would-work-for-us-citizens-from-somalia\/\"><strong>HERE&rsquo;S HOW DENATURALIZATION WOULD WORK FOR US CITIZENS FROM SOMALIA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Multiple senior Democratic officials, one of whom staffed Walz on the 2024 campaign trail, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that the Minnesota fraud scandal plays into the GOP&rsquo;s electoral strengths but doubted that it would help Minnesota Republicans win next year&rsquo;s gubernatorial election or resonate with voters beyond the state like Trump&rsquo;s immigration rhetoric did while running against Harris.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The thing about the border security issue was it was so present. People see &lsquo;fraud&rsquo; and Somalian immigrants, but it&rsquo;s not like the images of people running across the border or through the Rio Grande,&rdquo; the former Walz aide said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m always worried about the misuse of public dollars, but this is a little in the weeds.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A second senior Democratic official welcomed Trump&rsquo;s attacks on Walz, saying the president&rsquo;s focus could solidify support from the &ldquo;anti-Trump&rdquo; crowd around the incumbent.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;No Democrat is running against Gov. Walz because we, and the voters, know the truth: He is a good man, and Trump&rsquo;s attacks are more rooted in racism than reality,&rdquo; the official assessed, noting that Republicans, by contrast, have not yet landed a strong recruit for the governor&rsquo;s race.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;On the other side, you&rsquo;ve got basically a dozen Republicans all trying to out-Trump each other, and they&rsquo;re all probably going to lose to Mike Lindell,&rdquo; they added. &ldquo;Minnesota hasn&rsquo;t voted a new Republican into a major office since Trump stepped off the golden escalator, and I seriously doubt the My Pillow guy is going to change that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A third Democratic staffer laughed that Trump &ldquo;can&rsquo;t even keep the plot straight&rdquo; on who to blame for the Minnesota scandal, pointing fingers at both Walz and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who is a Somali immigrant.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the fraud scandal continues to be an unwanted firestorm for the Democratic Party that, beyond politics, could jeopardize millions in federal funding. Kelly Loeffler, Trump&rsquo;s Small Business Administration chief, sent a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kttc.com\/2025\/12\/24\/us-small-business-admin-halts-more-than-55m-annual-federal-funding-minnesota\/\">letter<\/a> to Walz before Christmas, alerting him that the administration would be halting some $5.5 million in funding previously allocated for the state while the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/erickson-the-truth-behind-the-cheney-story\/\" title=\"ERICKSON: The Truth Behind The Cheney Story\">federal government continues<\/a> to investigate additional fraud cases.<\/p>\n<p>New reporting that surfaced over the weekend suggests that multiple Minnesota daycare operations were recipients of taxpayer subsidies, despite currently having no children enrolled in the programs.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3909591\/democrats-think-trump-minnesota-immigration-pivot-lacks-legs\/\"><strong>DEMOCRATS THINK TRUMP&rsquo;S MINNESOTA IMMIGRATION PIVOT LACKS LEGS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Patel reacted to those reports on Sunday by announcing plans to surge &ldquo;investigative resources&rdquo; to expand the federal government&rsquo;s inquiry, adding that the indictments handed out so far represent &ldquo;just the tip of the iceberg.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem similarly offered up ICE agents on Monday to conduct investigations of alleged fraud sites.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump brands Walz a boogeyman over Somali fraud<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2645,"featured_media":2527749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AP25275657745849.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[32431,32923,32319,48242,36113],"class_list":["post-2527748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-2024-election","tag-democratic-party","tag-donald-trump","tag-gop-strategy","tag-tim-walz"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AP25275657745849.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2645"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2527748"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2527752,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527748\/revisions\/2527752"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2527749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2527748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2527748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2527748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}