President Donald Trump said Tuesday he’d gladly use his pardon power to protect journalists who expose fraud from federal prosecution under a future Democrat administration.
Asked by The Daily Wire’s Mary Margaret Olohan whether a Democrat in the White House might target reporters who dug up fraud in blue states, Trump didn’t blink.
“Sure. We have the power of pardon,” the president said. “If I have to use it to protect people like Nick, I’d use it very openly, very gladly. But they’ve already said they’re going to weaponize.”
Such pardons would have to be issued while Trump remains in office and could cover only past federal offenses, including those not yet charged, not future conduct or state crimes.
The “Nick” in question is Nick Shirley, the 24-year-old Utah YouTuber whose daycare video blew the lid off Minnesota’s fraud scandal. He got a hero’s welcome at the White House.
“I’d give him a big hug today,” Trump gushed, adding it was “too bad that you had to ruin your youth to find that such bad people exist, but welcome to the world.”
NEW: President Trump says he’s willing to preemptively use his pardon power to protect journalists from what he considers unfair political targeting by future administrations.
Asked whether a Democratic president could go after reporters who expose fraud in blue states after he… pic.twitter.com/Bth7td8WJx
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 20, 2026
Shirley gained national attention in December 2025 with a 42-minute video of him and his crew visiting Minneapolis daycares that appeared empty, despite allegedly raking in millions in taxpayer cash.
The fallout was swift. The Department of Health and Human Services froze childcare payments to Minnesota. Gov. Tim Walz bowed out of his reelection bid amid the scandal. Shirley celebrated on X: “ENDED TIM WALZ.”
Feds raided more than 20 Twin Cities locations in April, including childcare facilities featured in the video. In May, prosecutors charged Fahima Mahamud, the owner of Future Leaders Early Learning, another featured center, with wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Mahamud pleaded guilty in July.
Shirley says he’s been hit with death threats warning he’d be “Kirked,” a chilling reference to Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated on Sept. 10, 2025. His family has gotten calls, his location has been posted online as he travels, and one threat named a specific date. He now travels with security and has asked supporters to chip in for the cost.
He hasn’t been without controversy. In February, he responded to a post promoting YouTuber Tyler Oliveira’s antisemitic video “New Jersey’s Jewish Invasion,” writing “EXPOSE IT ALL.”
Meanwhile, a House Oversight Committee report alleged Walz’s administration threatened state employees who flagged fraud with surveillance. Whistleblowers said the state spent millions on private investigators and law firms to silence them. Vice President JD Vance referred the allegations against Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison to the Justice Department in June. Most of the 30 whistleblowers interviewed by the committee were state employees, many of them Democrats.
Walz insisted Minnesota had strong whistleblower protections. His spokesman called the committee “a joke,” and Ellison slammed the report through a spokesman, who called it inaccurate and politicized.
Trump’s pardon pledge comes with a twist of irony: Joe Biden outdid himself with preemptive pardons. Before leaving office, Biden shielded Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Jan. 6 committee and its staff, and police officers who testified before the committee. He also pardoned five family members in the final minutes before Trump’s inauguration. And he gave son Hunter a sweeping pardon covering more than a decade of potential federal crimes.
Biden claimed the pardons guarded against “politically motivated prosecutions.” Critics said they set a precedent for presidents to protect their allies.
Now Trump says he’s ready to use the same protection for journalists who expose fraud.
