St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter had a full-blown meltdown on CNN this week, lashing out at federal immigration agents after they began zeroing in on the massive Somali-led fraud schemes that bled Minnesota taxpayers dry. Appearing on “Laura Coates Live,” Carter delivered a bizarre, defensive tirade that left viewers wondering whether he’s more concerned about justice—or protecting the political machine that helped create the crisis.
For years, Minnesota has been ground zero for staggering levels of welfare fraud tied to Somali migrants. The *Feeding Our Future* scandal alone saw tens of millions stolen from programs meant to feed low-income children. Other schemes siphoned money from state funds intended to help parents of autistic kids. Federal prosecutors have described the fraud network as one of the largest in U.S. history.
Now, with the Trump Administration sending ICE and federal task forces into Minneapolis and St. Paul to go after those responsible, Carter is furious—not at the criminals, but at the feds.
Carter tried to spin the scandal as proof that federal agents *aren’t needed*, telling CNN, “Those fraud allegations were uncovered by local law enforcement… Our state’s law enforcement presence is what caught that.”
This is, of course, nonsense. State officials ignored red flags for years, and it was federal investigators—not local police—who blew the case open and began tracing money that ultimately flowed to extremist groups overseas, including Al-Shabaab.
Still, Carter doubled down, claiming federal law enforcement is “destabilizing” the community. Not the fraud. Not the theft of hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars. Not the terror financing. No—the problem, in Carter’s mind, is the people trying to clean up the mess.
Coates then asked a straightforward question: Should Minnesota officials face scrutiny for failing to stop the fraud sooner?
That’s when Carter’s meltdown went from defensive to downright bizarre.
Desperately trying to shift the conversation away from the Somali crime rings ravaging his city, he actually insisted the real problem is “European Americans,” saying he fears what President Trump will do when he learns about “how much fraud European Americans are responsible for.”
It was an astonishing moment—an elected mayor essentially arguing that focusing on the proven crimes of a migrant group is unfair because other crimes exist elsewhere. It was deflection at its most shameless.
Carter even attempted to whitewash the scandal by pointing to a single non-Somali defendant in the *Feeding Our Future* case, ignoring the overwhelming evidence that the fraud networks were overwhelmingly operated by and funneled through the Somali diaspora he refuses to criticize.
In closing, Carter fell back on tired identity-politics talking points, blasting federal efforts as “un-American” and claiming that targeting criminals somehow equates to targeting “a whole nation of people.”
No, Mayor. What’s un-American is watching taxpayers get robbed blind while politicians like you pretend everything is fine. What’s un-American is ignoring widespread fraud because acknowledging it might offend your political base. And what’s absolutely un-American is obstructing federal efforts to protect your citizens.
If Carter thinks Minnesotans are buying his excuses, he’s in for a rude awakening. The public has had enough—and this time, no amount of spin will protect the politicians who let this happen.
