Minnesota Democratic Gov.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."We didn’t stop them.
I accept that.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'Minnesota Gov.Tim Walz testifies during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in the U.S.
Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 2026.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)"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.
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