Nick Shirley Says Minnesota Guilty Plea Supports His Reporting
Nick Shirley did not set out to become a nationally known independent journalist. He started by making prank videos and casual YouTube content. That changed as he began covering stories he believed traditional outlets were overlooking.
His reporting drew national attention after his investigation into Minnesota’s “Feeding Our Future” scandal spread widely online. The video eventually surpassed 100 million views on X, a milestone Shirley said he had never seen before for one of his videos.
“When I saw it hit 100 million views, I had never seen a video get to 100 million views on X before. And then it became shared by some of the biggest voices in the world as well,” Shirley said.
Shirley now has roughly 1.7 million followers on X and nearly 2 million YouTube subscribers. His work has also been shared by Vice President JD Vance, Elon Musk and FBI Director Kash Patel.
Speaking with Fox News Digital at Freedom Fest in Las Vegas, Shirley described his work as a blend of reporting and documentary-style video. He said the format allows him to reach viewers who may not follow traditional news outlets.
“I think that’s a good mix, like an … independent YouTube journalist, like it’s journalism with a bit of documentary style as well. So, it’s kind of different than what anyone has ever done before as far as this new realm of YouTube journalism,” he said.
Shirley said he focuses on primary sources whenever possible. That means reviewing public government information and then visiting locations or speaking with people directly.
“I take all the information that’s public from the government, and I go straight to the source,” he said.
That approach has taken Shirley into controversial and dangerous areas. He recalled reporting trips to Brazil, Kenya and Philadelphia that pushed him beyond his comfort zone.
“In the favelas of Brazil, I thought I was going to die. That was a little scary,” he said. “In Kenya and Philadelphia as well, that was pretty dangerous.”
He has also covered the fentanyl crisis and the southern border. Shirley said his Spanish-language skills helped him investigate the movement of Venezuelan migrants and follow their journeys from the border to shelters in New York City.
“And since I could speak Spanish, I started to reveal what was actually happening. And people didn’t know that children were being smuggled. Seventeen-year-old girls were coming over all by themselves. Twelve-year-old girls were all coming over all by themselves. And I kind of started to showcase what was happening from the border all the way to the shelters in New York City.”
Shirley also credits his faith and a two-year mission with the LDS Church for shaping his approach to journalism. He said his work is driven by a desire to seek the truth and confront wrongdoing.
“Well, I think our faith invites us to look for the truth and expose evil,” he said. “Like, the scriptures, the Bible, everything, it’s a bunch of strong men exposing what’s happening as well, and I think that’s kind of lost.”
Shirley pointed to the guilty plea of Fahima Egeh Mahamud, who was tied to Minnesota’s massive “Feeding Our Future” scandal and a daycare fraud case, as evidence supporting his reporting.
Critics have challenged his conclusions, but Shirley said the legal proceedings speak for themselves. “Well, numbers don’t lie, and convictions don’t lie either,” he said.
The Minnesota cases have placed renewed attention on government-funded operations, oversight failures and the role of independent reporters in uncovering alleged fraud. Shirley’s rise shows how quickly a single video can move from YouTube and X into the national political conversation.
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