Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) accused Democratic-run states of weaponizing the welfare system as a political incentive, arguing during a Tuesday appearance on Fox News Channel’s “The Will Cain Show” that places like New York, Minnesota, and California effectively trade benefits for votes, according to Breitbart News.
Paul’s remarks came in response to a question from host Will Cain about whether the country can sustain an open-border posture while extending welfare to anyone who arrives.
“No, we can’t,” Paul said, per Breitbart’s account of the interview. He went on to describe what he characterized as widespread exploitation of federal benefit programs, pointing to specific examples he said illustrate the scale of the problem.
The hospice claim and Minneapolis allegations
Paul cited the case of hospice providers in Los Angeles, claiming there were 432 such centers in the city and that when the Trump administration cut off their funding, only 12 lodged complaints — which he took as evidence that the rest feared being caught.
“That means 80, 90 percent of these things are fraud,” Paul said, according to the outlet.
He also referenced adult learning centers in Minneapolis, tying his claim to the work of Nick Shirley, a conservative activist whose video investigations have circulated widely on the right. “All the stuff that Nick Shirley found in Minneapolis,” Paul said.
The Kentucky senator framed the core issue as a structural mismatch: Washington pays the tab, but states are responsible for oversight. When the entity doing the policing isn’t the one footing the bill, he suggested, the incentive to catch waste and fraud is weak.
“If you’re policing something you don’t pay for, do you really care if it’s wasted?” Paul asked.
Paul’s proposed fix: send it back to the states
From there, Paul pivoted to a sharper political charge. He argued that the pattern is concentrated in blue states — naming New York, Minnesota, and California — and described the arrangement as a form of transactional politics.
“The Democrats bribe people to get their vote,” Paul said, per Breitbart. He characterized the alleged pitch as: “Here, you can all have welfare, and we’re not going to check to see whether you need it or not or whether you’re stealing it, because Uncle Sam, the federal taxpayer, is going to pay for it.”
Paul’s proposed remedy is to return funding and enforcement responsibility to the states. Under his vision, states that failed to police their own programs would “bankrupt themselves,” creating a natural pressure to root out fraud and mismanagement rather than rely on federal oversight.
“It’s a terrible system,” he said.
The interview reflects a broader push among some Republicans to reframe welfare administration as both a fiscal and electoral issue. By arguing that blue states get the political benefit of generous benefits while federal taxpayers absorb the cost, Paul is offering a version of the argument that could resonate with voters who believe the system is rigged against them.
Whether his specific figures hold up is another question. The 432-hospice-center claim and the 80-to-90-percent fraud estimate are Paul’s characterizations of what happened when funds were withdrawn, not independently verified numbers included in the segment. The Minneapolis allegations tied to Shirley’s videos have been a flashpoint in conservative media but have not been substantiated by any federal audit described in the source material.
The clip arrives amid a continuing national fight over the scope of public assistance, border policy, and the balance of power between federal and state governments. Paul’s proposal to devolve welfare entirely to the states is unlikely to advance in the current Senate, but it telegraphs a message that Republican candidates may carry into the next election cycle.
According to Breitbart, the segment aired Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s “The Will Cain Show.”
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/09/15/rand-paul-blue-state-democrats-using-welfare-system-to-bribe-people-for-their-vote/