Vance Blasts Maine’s $46 Million Scandal
Vice President JD Vance came out swinging during a stop in Bangor, Maine. He painted a ugly picture of a state he says has been getting ripped off for years. His message was blunt. Taxpayers are getting hammered, and too many people in power looked the other way.
Speaking to a packed crowd, Vance said Maine may rank near the top when it comes to fraud. He pointed to what he described as a mix of welfare abuse, weak oversight, and political leaders who did too little to stop it. He called the situation heartbreaking and said it showed what happens when government stops serving the people who pay the bills.
“It is unbelievable how much you have been fleeced by your own government over the past 15, 20, 30 years. Nobody was looking at this,” Vance said.
He also praised former Governor Paul LePage, saying he was one of the few leaders who took the problem seriously. According to Vance, LePage pushed for more fraud investigations and tighter controls on benefits. One step he highlighted was putting personal photos on EBT cards so payments would go to real people instead of scammers or fake identities.
“He was the biggest advocate for your tax dollars and the biggest threat to fraudsters that ever existed in the state of Maine,” Vance said.
Vance argued that those reforms were rolled back when Democrats regained control. He blamed Governor Janet Mills and President Joe Biden for creating the kind of climate where fraud could spread again. In his view, Maine did not drift into this mess by accident. He said bad policy and weak enforcement opened the door.
“When you ask yourself why Maine went from a state that did not have a serious fraud problem to one of the worst in the union, the answer is simple: Janet Mills and Joe Biden,” Vance said.
He also brought up a major case involving Rakiya Mohamed, an illegal immigrant accused of claiming to provide translation services for Medicaid while collecting more than $15 million over five years. Vance used that case to argue that fraud is not some small clerical problem. It is a serious drain on public money.
According to Vance, the border crisis and weak immigration enforcement make the problem worse. He said states cannot keep funding programs properly if they do not know who is getting the money or whether the rules are being enforced. He also criticized Mills for blocking local police cooperation with federal authorities, saying that stance makes it harder to remove criminal illegal aliens.
Vance wrapped the message in a familiar Trump-era theme: the federal government should protect taxpayers, not shield fraudsters. He said the Trump administration is serious about chasing down abuse and holding people accountable.
“For once, you’ve got an administration in Washington that is fighting for you,” he told the crowd.
His overall point was simple. Fraud is not harmless. It means less money for schools, roads, and families who actually need help. And in his view, Maine’s mess is what happens when leaders spend too much time excusing abuse and not enough time stopping it.