‘Thank God You’re Not The Vice President’: Nancy Mace Grills Tim Walz Over Autism Funding Fraud

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) grilled Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) during a contentious Capitol Hill hearing addressing the rampant fraud in his state, much of which has been tied to the Somali immigrant community.

Mace specifically asked Walz a series of questions about fraud linked to funding designated to help children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder — and the Minnesota governor, combative at times, struggled to answer some of the most basic questions about the people in his state.

WATCH:

Tim Walz can’t, or won’t, answer simple questions about the absolutely massive increase in Autism program spending in his state.

These numbers have been circulating publicly for some time.

This is just insane. What a fraud. pic.twitter.com/eF2nWEL7Le

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) March 4, 2026

Mace began by asking Walz how much the state of Minnesota had spent on autism programs in 2017. Walz at first said that he did not know, and when Mace challenged him directly — asking whether he’d prepared for the hearing ahead of time — he argued that he did not know because he was not the governor in 2017.

“We’re gonna do some Minnesota math today,” Mace said, and she eventually revealed that Minnesota had spent approximately $1,000,000 on autism programs in 2017.

“How much money was spent on autism in Minnesota in 2024?” Mace asked then.

“I don’t have the number in front of me,” Walz replied. As governor I don’t —”

“Were you governor in 2024?” Mace asked.

“I was, but I’m not the —”

“Okay, so your excuse before, you didn’t know what 2017 autism numbers were because you were not governor, and today you can’t answer the numbers about 2024 as governor and you still said you prepared for this hearing today, it’s unbelievable,” Mace said. “$343,000,000 was spent in 2024. What percent increase is that, from one million to 343 million?”

“I’m not here to be your prop, go ahead and tell me,” Walz snapped.

“Are you governor of Minnesota or not?” Mace asked.

“Yes, I am,” Walz replied.

“Well, when I’m governor of South Carolina, you can sure as hell bet that I’m going to know the math,” Mace shot back, explaining that it those numbers represented a 34,200% increase.

“Do you know the number of children in Minnesota?” she asked.

“I know that Minnesota ranked as a top three state for children in the last year,” Walz said.

Mace asked what the state’s total population was, and Walz knew the answer to that question: “5.7 million.”

“What is the total population of children in Minnesota?” Mace followed up.

“I don’t have the number in front of me,” Walz said.

“Are you governor of Minnesota?” Mace repeated. “And you don’t know the number of children residing in Minnesota? … As governor, I expect you to know this information. Thank God you’re not the vice president.”