A mother-and-son team positioning themselves as leading voices in the Maga media sphere have been identified as the architects behind a viral panic over daycare fraud within Minnesota's Somali American community. Their sensational claims, which have been widely challenged by subsequent reporting, directly preceded a major policy announcement from the Trump administration.
The Rise of the Shirley Duo
Nick Shirley, a YouTube influencer, and his mother, Brooke Shirley, have for years produced conspiracy-minded content on hot-button rightwing issues, travelling to flashpoints from the US southern border to protests in Portland, Oregon. Their work, which often sensationalises conflict, is published across platforms including YouTube and TikTok, where Brooke Shirley has amassed over 290,000 followers.
Nick Shirley's collaboration with Minnesota Republicans was pivotal in producing a video on 26 December 2025 that alleged widespread fraud at Somali-run daycare centres. The video, which claimed facilities were claiming federal funds while caring for no children, ignited a torrent of anti-immigrant content online, including posts by Donald Trump on Truth Social.
Claims Unravel Under Scrutiny
However, follow-up investigations by local outlets such as CBS Minnesota and the Minnesota Star-Tribune found little factual basis for the allegations. While a separate $250m Covid-19 relief fraud scheme has seen charges against more than 90 people in Minnesota since 2022, no fraud charges have been filed against the daycare centres featured in Shirley's video. Some centres had minor code violations, but these were unrelated to fraud.
Despite this, the video had significant political impact. On 29 December, House Republican leaders held a press conference citing the "viral video," with Representative Lisa DeMuth stating her caucus had worked with Shirley to "get the information out." This was followed by the Trump administration's declaration of a national funding freeze for such programmes.
A Cultivated Voice in Conservative Media
Nick Shirley's influence has been actively cultivated by Trump's White House. In October 2025, he was an invited participant at a White House roundtable discussion on Antifa, where he delivered a speech later posted to his channel. His prominence was further cemented in November when he was awarded "citizen journalist of the year" at a gala hosted by James O'Keefe at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.
The Shirleys present themselves as roving, truth-telling citizen journalists. Brooke, a former journalism student, has stated that "what Nick is doing is journalism." Their content frequently mirrors each other's, covering the same events and reinforcing narratives about areas demonised in rightwing discourse, from migrant vendors on New York's Canal Street to the "Unite the Kingdom" rally in London organised by far-right figure Tommy Robinson.
Experts warn of the destabilising effect of such media. Petros Iosifidis, Professor of Media and Communications Policy at City, University of London, noted that this use of social media "deprives the public of their fundamental right to have access to reliable, accurate information." Nevertheless, with one in five Americans regularly getting news from social media creators, the influence of figures like the Shirleys appears set to continue.
