Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey isn’t backing down as calls intensify for him to resign amid the city’s ongoing anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protests and an alleged fraud scandal.
Frey appeared on “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday morning, defending his recent calls for ICE to “get the [expletive] out” of Minneapolis. Protestors have spent weeks clashing with ICE, and last week’s fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good only increased citywide tension. The Department of Homeland Security has argued that Good intended to use her vehicle as a weapon in an act of domestic terrorism.
Videos show Good attempting to drive away from ICE agents, one of whom had an arm inside the car. Another agent was directly in front of the vehicle when Good put it into drive. Minneapolis officials said 30 people were arrested during last weekend’s protests.
“When the conclusion is drawn by the government that’s actually doing the investigation itself, it’s much harder to trust the investigation,” Frey told Fox News. “We need to make sure that the American people can earn and gain that trust.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Fox’s Griff Jenkins get into tense exchange on ICE presence in city.
“You ask ICE to get the F out of your city, here’s the little secret: ICE, I’m sure, would like to not have to be doing the surge operations.” https://t.co/CiXfHKsRZr pic.twitter.com/P6rfdl8tPd
— Zachary Leeman (@WritingLeeman) January 14, 2026
Frey added, “And yes, I think there’s deep concerns with having exclusively the FBI, and not our Bureau of Criminal Apprehension at the state level, conducting the investigation itself.”
Social media, including conservative content creators, have widely criticized Frey over the last month. Independent journalist Nick Shirley exposed an alleged fraud scandal in Minneapolis shortly before the new year, and federal prosecutors have charged nearly 100 individuals in connection with fraud tied to Minnesota social services programs, including child care, food, autism programs, and housing.
In an interview with NBC News last weekend, Frey acknowledged the fraud is “very real” and that “everybody could have done more.” Roughly 60 people have been convicted so far, and most defendants are of Somali descent. Prosecutors estimate that the total amount of fraud could reach $9 billion, dating back to 2021.
“You put the person in jail as an individual,” Frey said. “You do not hold an entire community, any community, accountable for the actions of individuals.”
NEW: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey addresses the investigation into the fraud scandal in his state:
MAYOR FREY: “More could have been done. More can be done. And I think it makes it really clear that this is not about clamping down on fraud — these ICE arrests we’re seeing in our… pic.twitter.com/rONWjtIDfN
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 14, 2026
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced last week that he will not run for re-election. Frey won re-election last November, and there is no indication that he intends to step down from his position.
A glance at social media nonetheless shows plenty of users demanding that Frey resign. Eric Daugherty, who works for RightLine and Florida’s Voice, accused Frey of “inciting violence” in an X post on Wednesday morning. In another post, Daugherty called Frey a “traitor” for trying to expel ICE from Minneapolis. Those two posts had nearly 120,000 combined views as of publication.
President Donald Trump had not commented on Frey’s interview as of Wednesday afternoon, which is relevant because he has repeatedly spoken out against Minnesota politicians in recent days. Trump called Walz “moronic” and referred to Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar as “disgusting” in a Truth Social post on Tuesday.
