COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is pushing back against accusations that the state's Somali-run daycares are defrauding the public.
Viral claims of fraud had led to online outrage from Republicans in Minnesota and now in Columbus, Ohio, scrutinizing the city's Somali community.
"The Somalians are ripping off our country," President Donald Trump said Sunday.
DeWine, after already fighting back on social media, held a press conference to dispute the viral claims.
"We are as vigilant as we can about fraud," the governor said Monday.
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Right-wing social media accounts have alleged that Somali-owned daycare centers in Columbus have been receiving public dollars without providing services to kids.
This led state Rep. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania) to draft a letter to DeWine’s administration, urging it to investigate. State Rep. Tom Young (R-Washington Twp.) was one of the about 40 signatures in support.
"We have every right to ask any question in regards to how taxpayers' dollars are spent and what type of protections are there and what the processes are," Young said.
DeWine explained that the Department of Children and Youth has extensive steps to prevent fraud, such as paying by attendance of children, not the initial enrollment number, audits and surprise visits.
"Does fraud occur? Yes, fraud occurs," he said. "Our job is to do everything we can — no fraud is acceptable."
There are 5,200 childcare centers in the state, he said, and with their fraud detection, 12 facilities were shut down in 2025 — less than 1% of state-funded centers. There were about 60 cases of the state overpaying daycares $2 million in total, but the department felt that the cases were unintentional, and they got the money back.
There has been some fraud involving Somali businesses, but there is also fraud with non-Somali businesses. Still, there were only 12 out of 5,200, he said. He did not detail how many of the 12 were run by Somali community members.
"I would hope that the governor provides data that's legitimate," Young said. "If we don't get the answers, we'll continue to ask for the data."
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Still, some citizen investigators have claimed fraud since they are being denied entry when trying to film inside a daycare center.
"It shouldn't be a shock when you see something on social media, and someone is going, 'I can't get into this place, no one will let me in.' Well, hell no, no one should let him in," DeWine said.
Ohio requires facilities to have safety and security plans in place, he continued. Those protocols are there to protect children from random people whom they don't know and have no affiliation with the center, he added.
So what is the connection between Minnesota and Ohio?
Census data shows that after Minneapolis, Columbus has the second-largest Somali population in the country.
"Do you see these claims as being from anti-Somali sentiment?" we asked DeWine.
"Well, look. I think that something, again, the national audience does not understand... is that the vast majority of (Somalis) have been here for a long time," DeWine responded. "Many of them are citizens. Many of them run businesses. We need to just not fixate on any population."
And although some of his colleagues argue that this is about immigration. Young said that isn't his concern.
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"These are situations where we really have to look at the facts," he said. "It's not internet sensation."
DeWine warned not to believe everything you read on social media.
"We need to focus on what we can do collectively, all of us together, to stop fraud in Ohio," he said.
What's next
Trump has put a freeze on federal funding due to the Minnesota claims, but DeWine said that we are following all the updated protocols the president wants in order to prevent fraud.
He said Ohio shouldn't be worried, and there is enough money for several weeks until this gets sorted with Trump.
This article was written by Morgan Trau for the Scripps News Group.
