Tim Walz claims 'the person who’s angriest about this fraud is me' after Vance withholds Medicaid funds

In the wake of Vice President JD Vance and Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, announcing that some Medicaid funding going toward Minnesota would be paused due to fraud concerns, Governor Tim Walz claimed that "the person who’s angriest about this fraud is me." 

"I don’t know why this is so hard to understand, and I will continue to say this. You can trust me on this. The person who’s angriest about this fraud is me. There is certainly no political upside to having fraud in your state, and it undermines the very program that I have spent a lifetime advocating for and trying to implement," Walz said. 

Walz claimed that it was a "targeted retribution against a state that Trump doesn’t like," saying that there’s fraud in other states and "the numbers are bigger in other states because they’re bigger and they’re doing nothing."

He also said, "so they’re going to freeze the money because of fraud. What specific fraud? What did you see that the state didn’t do? You’ve been hearing this. We’ve been doing all the — they gave you not one single grain of this happen that’s fraud."

Vance announced on Wednesday, "We're announcing today that we have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of Minnesota in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people's tax money."

He explained that the providers in Minnesota have already been paid, and the administration is halting federal payments that will go to the state government until it "takes its obligations seriously to stop the fraud that is being perpetrated against the American taxpayers."

The state has been a focal point in recent months due to reports of fraud in Medicaid and other healthcare programs. The large Somali population in the state in particular came under fire, with many who are part of the community being charged and/or convicted of fraud. The topic of fraud launched into the spotlight after reporting from Nick Shirley, who alleged widespread fraud at childcare centers.

During his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, President Trump announced that he was appointing Vance to head the "war on fraud." He said, "But when it comes to the corruption that is plundering, really, it's plundering America, there's been no more stunning example than Minnesota." He added, "Find enough of that fraud we will actually have a balanced budget overnight, it will go very quickly. That's the kind of money you're talking about. We'll balance our budget."