Announcement comes after ongoing fraud of social services cases became focus of ire for Republicans and Trump

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Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota who ran for vice-president in 2024, announced on Monday that he is abandoning his quest for a third term in office.

The move comes after ongoing fraud of social services cases caught the attention of US Republicans, including Donald Trump, who then used the cases as a pretext to go after Somali residents.

Walz said in a statement that he wasn’t able to “give a political campaign my all”.