Country Star Chris Lane Sparks Backlash With Minnesota Daycare Joke As He Heads Out On Tour

Why didn’t I think of that?

Country star Chris Lane has some fans vowing to boycott his shows after joking that he “could’ve just opened up a daycare in Minnesota” instead of heading out on tour.

Lane, best known for songs like “Fix,” “I Don’t Know About You” and “Big, Big Plans,” is getting ready to hit the road opening up for Rascal Flatts on their 2026 Life Is A Highway Tour along with Lauren Alaina. But apparently, given all the recent news, he’s realizing he missed out on another opportunity:

@chrislane But then again, meeting all you beautiful people on the Life is a Highway Tour with @Rascal Flatts ♬ Wonderful Tonight – Eric Clapton

Lane is, of course, referring to the recent scandal in Minnesota following reports that thousands of Somali-owned daycares receiving millions of dollars in federal funds were actually scams, and didn’t exist at all.

The scandal exploded after independent journalist Nick Shirley released a video in which he went around to several of these “daycares” asking to enroll his son, only to be met with confused or angry “employees” as the “daycares” were completely empty of children. One of these “daycares,” which went viral for misspelling its name as “Quality Learing Center” instead of “learning,” closed its doors (which never appear to have really been open) after Shirley’s video was released.

The response from the federal government was swift, with President Donald Trump announcing that he was freezing all childcare funds to Minnesota, and both the FBI and Department of Homeland Security ramping up their presence in the state.

Minnesota officials, meanwhile, are claiming that these “daycares” are doing nothing wrong and are legitimate businesses operating as they should, with the mainstream media also attempting to debunk Shirley’s story by…apparently just calling the daycare centers and asking if they’re scams.

Meanwhile, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced this week that he was dropping his re-election bid amidst the scandal, while maintaining that he was the victim of “political gamesmanship.”

“For the last several years, an organized group of criminals have sought to take advantage of our state’s generosity. And even as we make progress in the fight against the fraudsters, we now see an organized group of political actors seeking to take advantage of the crisis.”

(What crisis? I thought all these daycares were legitimate?)

Anyway, Lane’s joke (which is one that a lot of people on the right have been making lately) for the most part seemed to reach the right audience, with many in the comments joking about the “Quality Learing Center” and agreeing that they, too, wish they had thought of opening a daycare in Minnesota instead of getting a real job:

“You live and you lear”

“I feel like we’re all wishing we opened up daycares at this point”

“Rethinking all my life choices. Wishing I had just opened a daycare in Minnesota”

“We should’ve been learing from all these others.”

“The “Lane Learing Center” has a great ring to it.”

But of course, it’s 2026, and naturally there were some people who weren’t too happy with his joke, and let Chris hear about it in the comments:

“Definitely not seeing you now!!”

“Stay in your lane buddy.”

“Definitely not your fan now”

“Must be nice to make comments when they don’t directly impact the work you do!”

“You’re too good to stoop that low.”

“Love how ppl who have no idea what they’re talking about post stupid crap.”

“I encourage you to use your bus time to research this topic more instead of riding on a racially charged YouTube video that has since been debunked by credible journalists. This reckless & dangerous humor also affects the honest and hardworking Somali population- including children.”

“Another fraudulent and untrue setup by Trump against another of his political rivals.”

“Meanwhile a few weeks ago this man was posting songs about God. Smh”

“What a weird way to attack a hurting community.”

“Do some actual research before spreading fake news. This is disappointing coming from a public figure”

“Eww. Poor taste. Take the high road”

“Wow, what a douche bag you are!”

“I’ve been a fan of yours since the beginning (I’m talking about Raleigh City Limits and Norris Creek as Chris Lane Band), but this makes me think very differently of you. Do better, please.”

“As someone who thinks you are super talented, this is disgusting. You, sir, are a royal prick.”

“Your career has been a real banger, Chris. You’re a joke.”

“and unfollow i used to like you!”

I’m sure Chris leared his lesson after all those comments.The post Country Star Chris Lane Sparks Backlash With Minnesota Daycare Joke As He Heads Out On Tour first appeared on Whiskey Riff.