‘Buck’ stops at Walz: Flanagan ducks Minnesota fraud blame as GOP rival exposes glaring contradiction

Minnesota's Republican Senate nominee, former broadcaster Michele Tafoya, used a Friday afternoon debate to press Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan over the large-scale fraud cases that have put the state in the national spotlight this year. Flanagan declined to accept responsibility, saying oversight belonged to Gov. Tim Walz, according to Fox News.

Tafoya opened by questioning Flanagan's fitness for federal office, noting eight years in the state's second-highest post on a taxpayer salary. She listed fraud, lower test scores, rising crime and a budget surplus that became a deficit as the results.

Investigators at the state and federal levels say daycare operators, food programs, health clinics and other businesses billed for help they either exaggerated or never delivered, with alleged losses reaching as much as $9 billion. When a moderator later asked Flanagan if she felt any ownership of the scandal, she answered that Walz had made plain the responsibility was his. She said her own work centered on paid family and medical leave, a child tax credit and school meals. After she pivoted to attacking President Donald Trump, Tafoya countered sharply.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →