Karoline Leavitt Cheers Tim Walz’s ‘Remarkable Downfall’ | EUROtoday

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt gloated about what she known as Gov. Tim Walz’s “remarkable downfall” after a reporter requested if the Minnesota governor was being investigated over allegations of welfare fraud in his state.

“Does the administration believe that Tim Walz potentially dropped out of the governor’s race because he could be under criminal investigation?” a reporter requested Leavitt at a White House press briefing Wednesday.

Grinning, the press secretary responded, “I don’t know if there’s a criminal investigation. If there was, I wouldn’t be able to comment on it from up here, to be honest with you.”

Leavitt added that the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee “probably dropped out of the race because he realizes he no longer has the support of the people of his own state, which is a remarkable downfall considering he was the No. 2 on the [Democratic] Party’s ticket just about a year ago.”

Earlier this week, Walz introduced he could be ending his reelection marketing campaign as Republicans have sought to tie him to a federal probe right into a welfare fraud scandal in Minnesota.

In a press release, Walz stated he was dropping out of the race to deal with “defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who prey on our differences.”

“So I’ve decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has paused federal funding to Minnesota’s little one care suppliers, and in keeping with Leavitt, “also notified Governor Walz they’re going to begin auditing Medicaid recipients and deferring payments on claims based on waste, fraud, and abuse.”

“The Department of Labor is also conducting a targeted review of Minnesota’s unemployment program,” she added. “The Department of Agriculture is requiring Minnesota to conduct recertification for SNAP recipients. And HUD has launched investigations into the public housing. SBA has also suspended nearly 7,000 borrowers amid suspected fraudulent activity.”

“And it won’t just be Minnesota,” Leavitt warned. “It will be any state across this country where fraud has taken place — and we are protecting law-abiding, tax-paying American citizens.”

Walz and different Minnesota officers have pushed again on Trump’s fraud allegations. Child care middle house owners have additionally condemned the Trump administration for freezing the state’s federal funding.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison decried Trump’s transfer and questioned the legality of freezing the funds.

“This hasty scorched earth attack is not just wrong, it may well be illegal, and my team and I remain committed to protecting the people of Minnesota to the fullest extent of the law,” Carin Mrotz, a senior adviser with the Minnesota Attorney General’s workplace, stated in a press release on behalf of Ellison.

Walz additionally accused Trump of “politicizing the issue to defund programs that help Minnesotans” in a Dec. 30 X submit.

HuffPost has reached out to Walz’s workplace for remark.

Watch the White House briefing beneath (Leavitt makes her remarks across the 55:44 mark).