A CNN panel ripped apart viral video claims by a right-wing YouTuber claiming rampant fraud at Somali-run child care centers in Minnesota.
YouTube content creator Nick Shirley recorded video of himself and a conservative activist barging into daycares looking for evidence they took federal funds without actually providing child care, but media analyst Sara Fischer told “CNN This Morning” that his claims are politically motivated and possibly suspect.
“Well, I think a lot of people were very apt to believe Shirley’s videos because we had indictments in 2022, when reporting first came out about this issue,” Fischer said. “It was David Fahrenthold, then at the Washington Post, who started to unravel all of these claims. The reason why I think Shirley’s post has gone viral amongst some of the conservative community is because Minnesota is a politically convenient target, not just for the president, but for the party. Obviously, the governor there, Tim Walz, was the running mate to Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Ilhan Omar has long been a foe of the president’s, and you noted up top that the ICE immigration raids on Somalis has been a priority for the president.”
“So all of this collectively has made this story something that people want to gravitate to,” Fischer added, “and then in addition to that previous reporting that uncovered widespread fraud in Minnesota from years ago also makes people more apt to believe this, where I think a lot of folks in the media, including, you mentioned CNN, which is looking to verify this video, are showing pause and trepidation around Shirley’s reporting is just that making sure that it’s actually verified, that it’s showing fraud in a similar way that we all evaluated the initial reporting that came out in 2022.”
There have already been 59 convictions during Joe Biden’s presidency related to fraud allegations like Shirley claims to have uncovered, and conservative activist Terry Schilling argued that President Donald Trump was right to highlight the issue.
“These claims of fraud are verified, they are credible,” said Schilling, president of the American Principles Project. “They’ve been trying to do things here, and, listen, I think that our justice system needs to be colorblind because we know that fraud is not, or I’m sorry that fraud is colorblind. This is not about the Somalians. I think the reason that it’s being focused on Somalians is because they’re the ones committing it. We took these people in as refugees, and it looks like there’s billions and billions of dollars of scams. So hopefully we can get some convictions here and get some justice because people need this money. People need help with daycare and no one should be scammed of it, especially taxpayers.”
Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright stepped in with a bit of context.
“Well, if I can just quickly add, keep in mind Trump University also was was convicted for fraud,” Seawright said, “and I would also add that this president has pardoned those close to him who’s had has had their own allegations of fraud. So we should keep that in mind. If we’re going to be fraud, let’s deal with fraud.”
– YouTube youtu.be
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