ADVERTISEMENT
Introduction — A Viral Story That Captured National Attention
At the end of December 2025, a 42-minute video published by independent journalist and YouTuber Nick Shirley alleged massive fraud involving Minnesota child-care facilities funded by federal and state programs. The video quickly went viral, garnering tens of millions of views on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube and thrusting Minnesota Governor Tim Walz into national political controversy.
Discover more
Video
video’s
video
videos
Health
Buy vitamins and supplements
health
Shirley’s central claim? That multiple childcare centers in the Minneapolis area were allegedly receiving government money — substantially — despite being inactive or not actually caring for children. He and an associate visited 10 or more facilities, recording what appeared to be empty or inactive sites while citing public payment data. Shirley and others in the video claimed that the total fraudulent payments to such centers exceeded $110 million.
Who Is Nick Shirley and What Did the Video Show?
Nick Shirley is a 23-year-old independent content creator known for politically charged, right-leaning videos. His Minnesota fraud exposé shows him visiting childcare centers in Minneapolis and surrounding areas that receive public funding through programs like the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), which subsidizes care for low-income families.
In the video:
Shirley often finds facilities with locked doors, no visible children in plain view, and minimal outside evidence of active operations.
At one location called Quality Learning Center, he highlighted a misspelled sign and claimed it had received millions in state funds despite apparently being empty.
Shirley criticized Minnesota authorities for alleged lax oversight and tied these findings to broader concerns about waste in social services.
Discover more
videos
Video
video
video’s
Health
health
Buy vitamins and supplements
Shirley’s narrative connects the daycare allegations to other ongoing fraud investigations in the state — most notably a larger scandal involving Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit that prosecutors say diverted federal COVID-19 pandemic child nutrition funds. However, the direct connection between that criminal case and these daycare facilities is legally separate.
