Tim Walz rejects calls to resign after dropping reelection bid: 'Over my dead body'

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has rejected demands to step down following the massive welfare fraud scandal.

Responding for the first time since ending his bid for a third term, Walz told reporters on Tuesday, January 6, “I’m not going anywhere. And you can make all your requests for me to resign. Over my dead body will that happen.”

Tim Walz rejects resignation calls amid fraud crisis

Governor Walz, while talking to reporters, said he will not leave his job early, no matter how much pressure he gets from the other side. “You can make all your requests for me to resign – over my dead body will that happen,” he ranted. 

Instead of talking about the fraud, he started talking about President Trump. “I will fight this thing ‘til the very end to make this state better. And the question I think they need to decide is when is the guy in the White House going to resign? When does he take accountability for what he did? Because it isn’t going to happen here in terms of us shying away from making the state better,” he said.

Tim Walz attacks Republicans for acting like Trump parrots

Walz also blamed Republicans for the problems and the bad news his state is getting. 

He said that Republicans are just trying to scare people and are acting like "parrots" for Donald Trump.

“Republicans want to tell you it’s too dangerous to walk down the street. Republicans want to tell you there’s nothing good that comes out of Minneapolis-St Paul. Republicans want to tell you everybody with brown skin is stealing money, or that they’re not welcome here,” he said. 

“They want to do nothing to improve this state. Their idea of improving this state is being a parrot for Donald Trump agreeing to everything he agreed with,” he angrily said while moving his arms.

Tim Walz drops re-election bid to focus on work

Walz’s outburst came right after he announced that he would not run for a third term in 2026. 

Despite being the frontrunner, Walz said he wants to focus on the fraud crisis instead of his own political future. 

“Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who prey on our differences,” he said in a press conference on Monday, Jan 5.

Republicans call for Tim Walz to quit over fraud

The pressure continues to increase as First Assistant US Attorney Joe Thompson indicated that the fraud involving housing and food aid could amount to $18 billion or more. 

Earlier, several Republican state lawmakers in Minnesota joined together to sign a formal statement demanding that the Governor step down. 

The lawmakers wrote, “Minnesotans have been watching the fraud crisis get worse and worse for years. It has gone on long enough. This is not about politics or stunts, and we do not make a call like this lightly. The office of the governor deserves respect, and we have tried to give Gov Walz time to act.” 

They added, “But leadership means doing the right thing even when it is difficult, which is why we are calling on Gov Walz to resign. We are talking about billions of dollars in fraud that should have gone to vulnerable Minnesotans. The red flags were everywhere. Yet, year after year the fraud kept growing, and year after year, nothing changed.”