Those Deeply Stupid Racist Lies About Somali Migrants in Minnesota
Grifters stole from Somali families; so Trump blames Somali families; and racists have the permission structure to be... well, you know.
MAGA politicians and influencers, eager to distract from a White House that continues to illegally cover up child rape, have been huffing racism like a rag soaked in gas fumes. It’s become a xenophobic Holy Grail for white people who hate fraud, but admire Donald Trump.
In January, the U.S. Treasury announced multiple investigations and audits into Minnesota businesses it claims ran a large benefits-fraud network. Almost immediately, Republicans popped the champagne, dusted off the dog whistles, and declared victory in their ongoing war against immigrants, facts, and woke math.
Then the U.S. Department of Agriculture suspended up to $129 million in federal payments to Minnesota and Minneapolis — claiming fraud in SNAP and child nutrition programs, which happen to be some of the most difficult government programs to defraud.
Yes, this administration has found a bold new way to fight fraud: By making sure poor kids don’t eat. We’ve reached the point where “law and order” now means telling hungry children, “Sorry, your lunch money is under audit.”
Minnesota Fraud, MAGA Logic, and the Magical Disappearing Children
This all follows the very real and very serious Feeding Our Future scandal, where private nonprofit operators — some of them Somali-American — allegedly stole more than $250 million via fake meal counts and money laundering.
That fraud really happened. It was enormous. And it exposed massive failures in government oversight.
But here’s where MAGA enters the picture — not with solutions, not with reforms, not with concern for who’s been hurt - but with a flamethrower of lies and racism aimed directly at African refugees, and at Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Republicans since 2016, it’s that fraud isn’t a crime and it certainly isn’t objectionable — it’s a branding opportunity against anyone you already despise.
Two Things Can Be True (I Know, Right Wing Friends Hate This)
You don’t have to buy MAGA lies to admit that government failed.
YES: Minnesota experienced an unacceptable breakdown in oversight.
BUT: it was not an “immigrant conspiracy,” or a Democratic plot, or proof that social programs don’t work.
Both of these things can be true. And MAGA absolutely cannot survive that sentence.
Instead, they’re exploiting real harm to:
- Smear Somali Minnesotans
- Defund public services
- And launder lies and scapegoating through YouTube videos, Elon Musk posts, and very bad math.
These are hardworking migrants who followed the rules, came to this country and were promised a better life. Now, the profoundly sadistic racists of the Trump administration have revoked temporary protected status for thousands of Somali nationals in the US, in the face their own lies that the diaspora community in Minnesota participated in widespread fraud.
And since these are the same Christ-hating Christians that knowingly spread lies about innocent Haitian migrants being “illegals” who were stealing and eating pets, it’s worth examining their lies with a bit more critical thinking than the folks who watch FOX News.
Lie #1: “Welfare Recipients Did This”
No, they really didn’t.
Thanks to Republicans, U.S. welfare programs rely heavily on third-party contractors.
And this fraud was committed by private contractors, not the needy families receiving aid. The theft happened at the administrative level — the same place fraud always happens when governments outsource services without oversight.
No evidence shows beneficiaries orchestrated the fraud.
Media, please get this right: It wasn’t “welfare abuse.”
It was contractor fraud.
Which, coincidentally, is the exact kind of fraud Republicans accept — as long as it’s done by corporations.
MAGA deliberately blurs this line to smear poor people and immigrants.
Lie #2: “90% of the Fraud Was Caused by Somalis”
The major Feeding Our Future fraud was committed by operators of nonprofits that acted as sponsors and vendors within federal nutrition programs. This isn’t the same as direct claims fraud by everyday welfare benefit recipients,
There is no legal finding that this was an organized “immigrant conspiracy.”
Trump, who was elected the 1st time with a racist lie about the first black POTUS and elected the 2nd time with the racist lie about innocent Haitians eating pets, boldly claimed this while offering zero evidence.
Federal prosecutors do not support it. No audits support it. No numbers support it. It’s just racism with a broken calculator. If Trump had proof, he’d show it.
Instead, he racializes crime, because facts don’t poll well with his base. And again, the man has to distract from the fact that every single day he is covering for, y’know, child rapists.
Lie #3 - Minnesota permits widespread fraud
This wasn’t ‘Minnesota corruption.’ It was a nationwide COVID-era vulnerability.
Fraud expanded during COVID because safeguards were loosened everywhere to get aid out fast. Red states, Blue states. All of them. Minnesota wasn’t unique — it was caught.
And when evidence emerged, Minnesota prosecutors did their jobs.
The Feeding Our Future case led to convictions, including for conspiracy and money laundering. That’s accountability — not a cover-up.
Cover-ups don’t end in convictions. This one did. And they’re counting on FOX News viewers not knowing this; and not much caring if they did.
MAGA Influencers: Wrong, Loud, and Proud of It
Right-wing influencers spread viral lies about $35 million in Somali political donations — claims that were later proven false. And Right-wing influencers spread provably false claims — and admitted they didn’t care.
Viral claims about $35 million in Somali political donations were false.
Even after admitting the error, propagandists refused to correct it.
Elon Musk amplified it anyway.
They admitted it. Then refused to correct it.
They didn’t care that it was wrong, just like they didn’t care that the Haitians were lied about. Because it’s only about power with these folks.
Also: YouTube stunt videos by petulant douchebags are not, in fact, audits.
Filming childcare centers without notice proves nothing — especially when recent state inspections already confirmed children were present.
Trump doesn’t fight fraud — he protects and pardons it.
This smear campaign to destroy Tim Walz and scapegoat African refugees comes from a party that finds fraud deeply acceptable. This is the same party whose leader just pardoned convicted fraudsters like Pokémon cards:
Philip Esformes — $1.3 billion in Medicare fraud
Michael Duran & Hector Negron — $205 million
Salomon Melgen — $42 million
Randall Davis — modest by GOP standards at $750,000
And Trump’s administration has weakened fraud detection nationwide
Trump cut IRS enforcement targeting tax cheats.
He gutted the CFPB’s anti-fraud units.
He fired inspectors general — the government’s fraud watchdogs.
He pardoned dozens of convicted fraudsters.
And Trump himself, let’s recall:
$26 million education fraud
$2 million charity fraud
Felony convictions for bank and insurance fraud
And a violent attempt to literally defraud American voters on January 6.
So, yeah — Republicans are deeply concerned about fraud.
Just not when they’re the ones doing it.
And people who knowingly vote for a felon who committed fraud against American citizens don’t really get to pretend they care about fraud.
The Real Structural Problem Republicans Won’t Touch
It’s a pattern: privatization without oversight.
Conservatives demanded outsourcing to private companies.
Then they underfunded auditors.
Then cut fraud detection.
Then fired inspectors general.
Then pardoned fraudsters.
Guys, if you outsource public services, you’re supposed to invest in auditing.
And now their solution is to freeze childcare funding — punishing kids instead of criminals — while over 96% of spending is legitimate.
That’s not accountability. It’s exactly the kind of cruelty MAGA Christianity voted for.
And One Last Thing MAGA Won’t Say Out Loud
Freezing childcare funding punishes kids, not criminals.
Somali Minnesotans are victims here too. Every stolen dollar meant less food, less housing, fewer services for their community. Poor families will suffer first.
Grifters stole from Somali families — and now Trump blames Somali families.
That’s not anti-fraud. That’s racist scapegoating. MAGA attacks the very people harmed by the fraud.
And the real scandal isn’t that fraud happened.
It’s that Republicans are using it to starve children, smear refugees, and protect the biggest fraudsters of all — themselves.
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