On Monday (Dec. 29), the Fox News program The Five erupted after co-host Jessica Tarlov ripped apart a false claim on YouTube concerning alleged fraud of $110 million with social services in Minnesota, which was posted by a conservative. The result has left some supporters of President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” policy highly upset.
The Five’s other hosts brought up the video, which was posted on YouTube by conservative independent journalist Nick Shirley and alleged that Democratic Governor Tim Walz has overlooked those charges, stemming from those involved with day care centers in the state. Federal prosecutors announced that they were expanding the operations into 14 social services programs there.
Tarlov acknowledged the ongoing fraud investigation and potential criminal activity, but she disputed right-wing claims that there hasn’t been coverage of it. She then focused on the Trump administration. “Donald Trump and his administration have not taken fraud seriously,” she stated before providing examples in former nursing home executive Phillip Esformes, who was convicted in a $1.3 billion Medicare fraud scheme. She also mentioned private equity investor Phillip Gentile, who was found guilty of his role in defrauding investors in a $1.6 billion scheme. Esformes would have his 20-year prison sentence commuted in Trump’s first term, and Gentile would be granted clemency by Trump last month.
“Do not go out there and say this was all a liberal problem if you don’t want to look under the hood of your own car,” she said, also bringing up Trump University, which was started by Trump before he made his foray into politics. The school would reach a settlement of $25 million with those suing it for fraud. Tarlov was attacked online by MAGA supporters calling her a “liberal shill” and a “CIA stooge” for her comments.
The fraud controversy comes as Trump and Vice President JD Vance have ramped up their anti-immigrant rhetoric against the Somali community in Minnesota, as well as Ohio. Shirley has also come under fire, as independent news outlet MPR News reported that state Republicans in Minnesota have admitted working with Shirley on the video. Shirley had touted that his video was a wholly independent investigation, which showed him turning up at child care centers operated by Somali immigrants.
[Editor’s Note: The ringleader of the “Somali fraid” was a white lady.]
