Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Trump administration’s Medicare and Medicaid administrator, told Fox News on Tuesday that Minnesotans “can’t” complain about Somalis without being called racist. His remarks landed as he also described investigators being “ostracized” and ha
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Trump administration’s administrator for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, didn’t just argue that criticism is being labeled as “racism.” On Tuesday, he went further—insisting that complaints about Somalians are off-limits because, in his words, “that’s racist.”
The comments came on Fox News as Oz framed Minnesota’s posture toward federal investigations and social-service enforcement as something he deemed both moral and logical. “You’re not allowed to complain about Somalians because that’s racist,” Oz said. “And the worst thing you can be in Minnesota is a racist.”.
He then turned to who, he said, is actually being harmed. Oz called the state’s response “ironic,” arguing that “the people you’re hurting are often Somalians and other folks that look different than you.”
The contradiction wasn’t subtle. Less than that. Oz portrayed the federal scrutiny of alleged fraud in Minnesota social programs as being met with hostility from the state side—describing investigators who. he said. told him they were “ostracized” and that they “walked out of the building” when they tried to speak with Minnesota officials.
Taken together, Oz’s remarks underscored a dispute about power and accountability: who gets to define racism, and who bears the consequences when investigations are carried out with aggressive enforcement.
There was also the emotional weight of a simple charge—“you’re hurting” people who “look different”—delivered by a top federal official overseeing programs that millions rely on. For Somalians and others singled out by appearance, the stakes aren’t abstract. The argument Oz made on television collided with the reality that social-service enforcement can quickly affect daily life. benefits. and access.
And in Oz’s own account, the friction wasn’t only between federal investigators and state officials. It was also about the public language surrounding the whole effort—how quickly dissent is dismissed and how easily the same scrutiny can be reframed as something else.
Oz’s critique of Minnesotans’ alleged reluctance to accept criticism—paired with his insistence that even complaining about Somalians would be called racist—left little room for a middle ground. If. as he said. those doing the policy work are “hurting” people who are often Somalians. the question becomes whether officials can condemn racism while implementing policies that are experienced. on the ground. as punishment.
Dr. Mehmet Oz Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Fox News Minnesota Somalians racism fraud investigations social programs federal agents White House
So basically you can’t even say anything anymore.
I don’t get why everyone’s jumping to racism. If there’s fraud, it’s fraud, who cares what ethnicity. Sounds like politics dressed up as morals.
Wait, they said investigators got ostracized and walked out?? That’s crazy. But also Oz said you’re hurting people who look different, like… how do we know that’s what’s happening and not just normal enforcement? Minnesota always acts weird when fed stuff comes in.
Idk man, Oz is saying ‘complaining about Somalians is racist’ like that’s some magic rule. But the way they’re doing raids and fraud checks, it feels like everybody’s scared to talk, and then they call it racism when people question it. Also ‘Medicare and Medicaid administrator’ like what does he even know about local state investigations? Half this sounds like somebody got mad and started yelling on TV, and now it’s all about racism definitions.