“The Somali Welfare Fraud in Minnesota: Clown World on Steroids Exposed by Senator Kennedy”

Mr. President, the American people are renowned worldwide for their unparalleled generosity. In this great nation, when someone is hungry, we feed them. When they are homeless, we house them. When they cannot afford medical care, we pay for their doctors. We spend trillions of taxpayer dollars every year helping our neighbors and friends who are less fortunate. This generosity is rare globally. I have traveled extensively, as have you, Mr. President, and in many countries, if you fall on hard times, you are left to die alone in a ditch. But not in America. We take care of our fellow citizens—but it comes at a cost.

And it is precisely this generosity that infuriates me when some exploit it shamelessly. What I am about to reveal, Mr. President, is deeply disgusting. It is, quite frankly, clown world on steroids. When I first read about this scandal, I was stunned. I had to read it twice to believe it was true. And when I confirmed it was, I wanted to run away screaming.

For the past five years, federal prosecutors have uncovered massive welfare fraud in Minnesota—massive to the tune of over one billion dollars stolen from American taxpayers. This is not just fraud; it is outright theft. And astonishingly, this fraud has been centered almost exclusively within the Somali community in Minnesota.

Let me be clear: I am not here to criticize the Somali community as a whole. The Somali population in Minnesota numbers about 80,000, primarily around Minneapolis. I do not denigrate people based on ancestry. However, the facts are undeniable. The billion-dollar welfare fraud was orchestrated by individuals of Somali descent and largely took place within that community. Facts are not racist; they are facts.

So far, 59 people have been convicted and 86 charged, with 78 of those charged being of Somali ancestry. This is a fact. The criminals devised three elaborate schemes to siphon off taxpayer money.

The first scheme involved a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future. This organization claimed it was feeding hungry children in the Somali community. They approached Minnesota’s welfare authorities and secured federal funding to establish feeding sites at Somali-owned businesses. On paper, it sounded noble. The program started small but ballooned to spending about $100 million per year. The problem? There were no hungry children receiving these meals. The money meant to feed kids was instead spent on yachts, vacations, jewelry, and expensive furniture by the businesses involved.

The second scheme purported to help the homeless. Another Somali-run nonprofit requested millions to house homeless people. The requests escalated from $2.6 million in 2020 to over $100 million per year in subsequent years. Yet none of the funds went to housing the homeless. Instead, the money was pocketed by the nonprofit and its providers.

The third and most revolting scheme targeted autistic children. Medical providers, again mostly Somali, convinced welfare authorities to fund programs to help autistic children. However, they struggled to find enough autistic children to qualify. So, they bribed parents within the Somali community to falsely certify their children as autistic in exchange for payments ranging from $400 to $1,500 per child. The funding for this scheme skyrocketed from $3 million initially to a staggering $400 million by 2023.

In total, these three schemes stole approximately $1 billion in taxpayer funds.

One might wonder why state authorities did not intervene sooner. Why didn’t social services verify the claims, inspect the supposed feeding sites, or check the housing facilities? The answer is chilling: politicians blocked investigations to protect a key voting bloc. The Somali community represents an 80,000-strong voting block in Minneapolis, crucial for Democrats to win elections. Fear of political backlash and accusations of racism led to willful blindness.

Employees within the welfare department raised alarms early on. They reported suspicious claims and attempted to cut off funding. But the nonprofit Feeding Our Future threatened lawsuits, accusing the state of racism if funding was withheld. These threats silenced many officials. Whistleblowers faced retaliation, monitoring, and attempts to discredit their reports. Instead of addressing fraud, the state officials systematically suppressed it.

Frustrated state employees finally spoke out publicly, blaming Governor Tim Walz for the rampant fraud and the failure to act. They described a toxic environment where political considerations trumped honesty and integrity.

To make matters worse, there are allegations—still under investigation—that some of the stolen money was funneled to the terrorist group Al-Shabaab in Somalia, notorious for its hatred of Americans and violent extremism.

This scandal is not about race; it is about crooks exploiting a system designed to help the vulnerable. It is about politicians prioritizing votes over justice and taxpayers’ money. The sheer scale of the fraud, the brazen theft of a billion dollars, and the political cover-up represent a betrayal of the American people’s generosity and trust.

Those responsible—criminals and complicit politicians alike—must be held accountable. This is a stain on Minnesota, on the nation, and on the principles of fairness and justice that America stands for.

Mr. President, this clown world on steroids must end. We owe it to the taxpayers, to the truly needy, and to the integrity of our democracy. The time for excuses is over. The time for action is now.