Senator JD Vance recently suggested that Nick Shirley deserves a Pulitzer Prize for his investigative work on alleged fraud within Somali daycare centers. This claim comes despite Shirley facing criticism for being “stupid” and “illiterate” following a controversial interview. At just 23, Shirley captured the internet’s attention with a viral video accusing ten Somali-operated daycare centers in Minnesota of misusing over $100 million in taxpayer money. He argued these centers were frequently empty during business hours. The video gained massive traction on social media, even catching the eye of billionaire Elon Musk, who shared it on platform X.

However, both state and federal authorities have stated there is no substantiated evidence that supports Shirley’s claims about the daycare centers misappropriating $100 million or being non-operational. Inspections revealed that many of these centers were, in fact, licensed and functioning. Despite this, a former vice president remarked that Shirley had produced more impactful journalism than recent Pulitzer winners. Still, Shirley now faces accusations of being “slow” and “illiterate” after struggling with basic English language skills.

In a recent video posted by YouTuber Andrew Callaghan from Channel 5, Shirley demonstrated difficulty understanding the word “benevolent.” When Callaghan asked him to name the “three most benevolent billionaires,” Shirley responded with confusion, mispronouncing “benevolent” as “bellevolent.” After receiving an explanation of the word, which means having kind intentions, Shirley proceeded to list Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and David Sacks as the billionaires he considered most well-intentioned.

The clip of Shirley struggling to answer Callaghan’s question went viral on social media with one user on X writing, ‘You can’t argue with people who are this stupid. This guy needs a chaperone, not a Pulitzer. All the people saying Somalis are stupid sound like this guy.’ One of the top comments on Callaghan’s video with Shirley states, ‘Straight up did not realize Shirley is borderline illiterate. Tracks though.’ Another left-wing X account also mocked Shirley by claiming he is ‘so stupid that he had to ask Andrew Callaghan for the definition of ‘benevolent’ and mispronounced it after literally hearing the word two seconds ago.’

Following Shirley’s video, the Department of Homeland Security launched a deportation effort in the twin cities aimed at deporting illegal Somali migrants. A DHS spokesperson also added in a statement that the Trump administration is ‘all hands on deck to root out criminals in Minnesota who are defrauding the American people.’ Moreover, FBI director Kash Patel in December also addressed Shirley’s video by writing on X that the bureau had ‘surged personnel and investigative resources’ to Minnesota for the purpose of dismantling ‘large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programs.’ Currently, no arrests have been made by the administration over alleged fraud uncovered in Shirley’s video. While Minnesota has faced fraud in social-services programs, authorities stress those investigations are separate from Shirley’s viral claims.