Tim Walz reflected on his legacy in a recent interview and his comments sparked immediate pushback both online and from Republican lawmakers in the state who spoke to Fox News Digital. "Fraud — should have stopped it sooner," Walz told the Minnesota Star-Tribune in a discussion that is being dubbed an "exit interview" with the headline "Walz accepts blame for fraud but says it shouldn’t define his legacy" as he prepares to leave office in January. I think there does need to be accountability with that.
And part of it is that, yep, that’s with me, I’ll step aside." Walz claimed the state "immediately" took action on the fraud and then went on to suggest the true cost of the fraud, estimated at $9 billion by federal prosecutors, has been overstated and claimed President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom, expected to cost taxpayers around $300 million, was more expensive than the Minnesota fraud. WALZ APPROVAL RATING CRATERS TO LOWEST LEVEL EVER AND TRAILS TRUMP AMID MASSIVE FRAUD SCANDAL: 'TIRED OF IT' "I should have been down on those agencies a little more, but I will tell you this, in the scheme of things, all the fraud that's been prosecuted, by the way, and all the fraud that's probably out there is less than the ballroom at the White House," Walz said. "So it puts it into perspective.
It doesn't make it right. Doesn't make it right." The outgoing governor then explained his hope that people will remember his other accomplishments when talking about his legacy. "Those are legacy things to address climate.
They’re legacy things to address livability," Walz said. "And I get it, that fraud tainted a lot of that. It doesn’t change the fundamentals underneath it.
This is the best state in the country to raise a child, and it will continue to be so because of those investments." Three Republican lawmakers in Minnesota who spoke to Fox News Digital had a different take. "Governor Walz is correct, he shouldn’t only be remembered for fraud," Minnesota state Sen. Julia Coleman told Fox News Digital.
"We should remember him spending our $18 billion surplus, raising taxes $10 billion, creating an unsustainable budget, letting rioters burn down Minneapolis, hurting our students and businesses with lockdowns and pardoning a child rapist." 'WE HAVE NOT SLOWED DOWN': MINNESOTA NOT OUT OF THE WOODS ON MASSIVE FRAUD SCANDAL, EXPERT WARNS Walz has faced fierce criticism for helping approve a full pardon for Tue Lue Vang, a Laotian national convicted of repeatedly raping a girl beginning when she was 10. Critics argued the decision prioritized Vang’s immigration concerns and family ties over the severity of his crimes, with a DHS official calling it "disgusting." Minnesota Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth is running to replace Walz in November as she heads into a matchup with Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar to be the state’s next top executive.
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