Nick Shirley has viral retort for Gavin Newsom's office after it mocks his investigations

YouTuber and independent journalist Nick Shirley went viral Monday for his response to California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office on social media after it mocked his efforts to expose alleged fraud by daycare centers receiving millions of dollars of government funding.

Newsom's office mocked Shirley by posting a photo of a man carrying several cameras at a daycare and asking a teacher, "Hey, can I see your kids?"

 Shirley did not hold back in his response.

"You do realize I’m trying to help America eliminate fraud and waste right?" he said in a reply to the post Monday night. "No need to try and make me look like the bad guy for exposing fraud. People are over it. Start working for the people and not against them."

YOUTUBER TO TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS ON MINNESOTA'S MASSIVE $9B FRAUD NETWORK INVESTIGATION

Shirley gained national attention after releasing videos he said expose fraud in Minnesota. 

A 42-minute video of him investigating Minnesota daycare centers that appeared inactive despite receiving millions of dollars in government funding went viral in December. 

The video, which has been viewed more than 138 million times on X alone, prompted investigations by federal officials and led the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to freeze all childcare payments in Minnesota.

Shirley testified before House lawmakers in January during a hearing investigating the state's fraud scandals. 

Shirley's Monday response to Newsom's office has received over 190,000 likes, 20,000 reposts and reactions from some high-profile X users.

The online exchange with Newsom's office came shortly after Shirley posted a video on his YouTube page titled, "I Investigated California's Billion Dollar Fraud Crisis."

NICK SHIRLEY SAYS 'LEFTISTS' ARE 'COMING AFTER ME' FOR EXPOSING MINNESOTA FRAUD

On X, where the video was shared on Monday, Shirley alleged the fraud he discovered in California was larger than in Minnesota.

"We uncovered over $170,000,000 in fraud as these fraudsters live in luxury with no consequences," the post said. "Like it and share it, the fraud must STOP."

Shirley went on to speak out about the fraud he discovered in the post, "We ALL work way too hard and pay too much in taxes for this to be happening. These fraudsters have been able to defraud American taxpayers for years without any pushback from the public and politicians. It is time to EXPOSE IT ALL and end America's fraud crisis."

Shirley did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. 

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Newsom's office referred Fox News Digital to other related X posts:

Fox News' Madison Colombo and Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.