Michele Tafoya’s accusation that Peggy Flanagan is “hiding from” Minnesota’s welfare-fraud scandal
Michele Tafoya says Minnesota Senate opponent Peggy Flanagan “is hiding from the fraud” in the state’s Feeding Our Future scandal and “let it happen.” Flanagan says fraud is unacceptable and that Minnesota prosecutes fraudsters while Trump pardons them.
Case period:
Published by The Dispute Index editorial teamPublished Updated
Overview
Michele Tafoya’s public accusation, in a September 13, 2026 post (opens in a new tab), that Peggy Flanagan “is hiding from the fraud” in Minnesota’s Feeding Our Future scandal and “let it happen.” Feeding Our Future was a nonprofit whose executive director, Aimee Bock, was convicted in 2025 of running a scheme that fraudulently obtained tens of millions of dollars in federal child-nutrition funds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Flanagan has not been charged in connection with the scheme.
Tafoya and Flanagan are the 2026 major-party nominees for the U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota. Tafoya repeated the accusation in reporting by Townhall (opens in a new tab) on September 14. Flanagan addressed it on the podcast Lovett or Leave It, published September 20.
Response record
Responses
Latest recorded positions: 2. Dates: September 13, 2026 to September 20, 2026
Choose one response filter, or select All responses to see the full record.
2 responses on this page
Peggy FlanaganDirectly involved "Fraud of any kind is completely unacceptable.” … “I would just say, you know, that more should have been done … sooner and more needs to be done.” … “I would say that it’s not OK for anyone, right, to commit fraud.” … “I think the difference, right, is that Minnesota is prosecuting fraudsters, including the woman who is in charge of Feeding Our Future, Aimee Bock, who received over 41 years in prison.” … “And in Washington, Donald Trump is pardoning the fraudsters who are literally stealing money from Medicaid. Like, we’re not the same. And, you know, Michelle Tafoya hasn’t said anything about that. She’s just fine with it."
Watch the original video (opens in a new tab)Lovett or Leave It: “Peggy Flanagan on JD Vance’s Midterms Plea & Her Fight to WIN her Senate Race in Minnesota”07:55–13:19 (fraud-scandal segment).CondemnedCase context: Michele Tafoya’s accusation that Peggy Flanagan is “hiding from” Minnesota’s welfare-fraud scandal
Why this label?
The case’s fixed reference point is Tafoya’s accusation that Flanagan hid from the fraud and let it happen. Flanagan does not deny that fraud occurred, but she rejects the accusation as directed at her: she says fraud is unacceptable, points to steps taken since (an inspector general’s office, harsher penalties) and to Minnesota prosecuting the scheme’s leader, and contrasts that with Trump’s pardons and Tafoya’s silence about them. That answers and rejects the accusation rather than accepting it. The closest competing label is mixed_or_conditional, because she also says “more should have been done… sooner and more needs to be done”; it loses because that is a passive, impersonal statement about the state’s response generally, and she never says in the first person that she hid from or allowed the fraud.
This label describes the statement’s response within the context above.
Read context and background
Asked about the Feeding Our Future fraud scandal on Lovett or Leave It, Peggy Flanagan said “fraud of any kind is completely unacceptable,” that she supported a new independent inspector general’s office and harsher penalties, and that “more should have been done… sooner and more needs to be done.” She said “it’s not OK for anyone… to commit fraud,” and that Minnesota is “prosecuting fraudsters,” including Feeding Our Future’s executive director, while President Trump “is pardoning the fraudsters who are literally stealing money from Medicaid,” adding that Michele Tafoya “hasn’t said anything about that.”
Role at the time: Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, interviewed on Lovett or Leave It
Before the statement
Host Jon Lovett introduced the fraud scandal as Tafoya’s “main line of attack,” noting that as lieutenant governor Flanagan was “not approving invoices” and “not in that direct line of authority,” but that Tafoya was “still trying to tag” her with it.
After the statement
Flanagan went on to say she personally benefited as a child from public assistance programs of the kind targeted by the fraud, and that Trump’s administration should face additional regulations and policies “so people can’t do this right out of the White House,” referring to his pardons of Medicaid fraudsters.
Lovett or Leave It: “Peggy Flanagan on JD Vance’s Midterms Plea & Her Fight to WIN her Senate Race in Minnesota”07:55–13:19 (fraud-scandal segment).Michele TafoyaDirectly involved "Peggy Flanagan is hiding from the fraud. She let it happen. Minnesotans have noticed. That’s why this race is a statistical tie. I’ve been in every corner of this state, and I keep hearing the same thing: people are done making excuses for their leaders."
Read the original post (opens in a new tab)Michele Tafoya (@Michele_Tafoya) on X: “Peggy Flanagan is hiding from the fraud. She let it happen.”Post text.Open source (opens in a new tab)As Minnesota’s Senate Race Tightens, Michele Tafoya Hammers Peggy Flanagan on Welfare Fraud · TownhallParagraphs quoting Tafoya’s September 13 post and her additional remarks.Defended or excusedCase context: Michele Tafoya’s accusation that Peggy Flanagan is “hiding from” Minnesota’s welfare-fraud scandal
Why this label?
Tafoya makes the accusation herself and presents it as settled fact (“she let it happen”), and argues that Minnesota voters are responding to it. That defends and presses the accusation rather than merely reporting it. The closest competing label is mixed_or_conditional; it loses because Tafoya states the accusation without qualification or condition.
This label describes the statement’s response within the context above.
Read context and background
In a post on her campaign X account, Michele Tafoya said her opponent, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, “is hiding from the fraud” in Minnesota’s Feeding Our Future scandal and “let it happen.” She said Minnesotans “have noticed,” pointing to polling showing the Senate race as “a statistical tie,” and said “people are done making excuses for their leaders.”
Role at the time: Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, posting on her own X account
Before the statement
Townhall reported that news coverage of Governor Tim Walz’s handling of fraud in Minnesota’s housing, Medicaid, autism, and Feeding Our Future programs had not mentioned Flanagan, and that Tafoya “did” mention her.
After the statement
Tafoya’s post continued with a call to vote, linking to Minnesota’s absentee-voting information. Townhall separately reported additional remarks by Tafoya, including “Here’s a number that Peggy Flanagan doesn’t want you to see: 44 to 42.”
Michele Tafoya (@Michele_Tafoya) on X: “Peggy Flanagan is hiding from the fraud. She let it happen.”Post text.As Minnesota’s Senate Race Tightens, Michele Tafoya Hammers Peggy Flanagan on Welfare Fraud · TownhallParagraphs quoting Tafoya’s September 13 post and her additional remarks.
Sources
(3)
Original post
Michele Tafoya (@Michele_Tafoya) on X: “Peggy Flanagan is hiding from the fraud. She let it happen.”
Excerpt
"Peggy Flanagan is hiding from the fraud. She let it happen."
About this source
Michele Tafoya’s own post, published at 6:26 p.m. EDT on September 13, 2026 (2099263597314724139), read in full.
- Author
- Michele Tafoya
- Published
- Accessed
Original video
Lovett or Leave It: “Peggy Flanagan on JD Vance’s Midterms Plea & Her Fight to WIN her Senate Race in Minnesota”
Relevant passage: 07:55–13:19 (fraud-scandal segment).
Excerpt
"I would say that it’s not OK for anyone, right, to commit fraud."
About this source
Weekly comedy and politics podcast, published on YouTube at 9:00 a.m. EDT on September 20, 2026. Host Jon Lovett interviews Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Minnesota. No official transcript or captions were available; quotations here were checked against two independent transcriptions of the published audio.
- Author
- Lovett or Leave It
- Published
- Accessed
Reporting
As Minnesota’s Senate Race Tightens, Michele Tafoya Hammers Peggy Flanagan on Welfare Fraud
Relevant passage: Paragraphs quoting Tafoya’s September 13 post and her additional remarks.
Excerpt
"Here’s a number that Peggy Flanagan doesn’t want you to see: 44 to 42,"
About this source
Townhall’s report on Tafoya’s campaign messaging, published September 14, 2026, quoting her September 13 post and additional remarks.
- Author
- Amy Curtis
- Published
- Accessed
Corrections
(0)
Corrections address errors in our reporting or labels. When a speaker changes their position, we add a separate statement and link it to the earlier one.
No corrections on this page.