Vice President JD Vance told Newsmax on Thursday that alleged fraud tied to federal programs is far more extensive in California than in Minnesota, citing billions of dollars uncovered by investigators and warning that activists are attempting to deflect attention from the issue.
"I think we have a fraud problem that is much worse in California than it is in Minnesota," Vance told "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE" during his visit to Minneapolis.
Vance pointed to findings by the Small Business Administration as evidence that the scope of fraud extends well beyond the Midwest.
"I was talking actually to our small business administrator," he said, referring to Kelly Loeffler.
"I think she's found probably half a billion dollars of fraud in Minneapolis and the broader Minnesota area," Vance said.
"I think she's found $7 billion worth of fraud in California."
Vance said the disparity underscores why the administration is focused on investigations rather than rhetoric surrounding immigration enforcement.
"This is unfortunately a problem that is much bigger than Minnesota," Vance said.
"But it also highlights how absurd this effort is to prevent the immigration enforcement."
He argued that protests and political messaging are being used to divert attention from fraud investigations.
"They didn't want to talk about fraud," Vance said.
"They wanted to talk about the brutality of immigration enforcement, as they call it."
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