Trump press secretary launches tirade against reporter who asked about ICE | Trump administration
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused a reporter of being a “left-wing activist” during a heated confrontation Thursday over the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent last week.
Beginning his question at the White House press briefing, Hill’s White House columnist Niall Stanage touched on the Trump administration’s staunch defense of ICE agents and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s assertion that ICE is “doing everything right.” He pointed to statistics showing that 32 people died and 170 U.S. citizens were killed in ICE custody last year. Detained by ICEbefore noting that Good “was shot in the head and killed by an ICE agent.”
“How does that mean they did everything right?” asked Leavitt.
“Why was Renee Good sadly and tragically killed?” he asked. When Stanage asked if Leavitt had asked him for his opinion, Leavitt said, “Yes.”
“Because an ICE agent acted recklessly and unjustly killed him,” Stanage replied.
Leavitt then fired back: “Okay, so you’re a left-wing, biased reporter… Because you’re a leftist. You’re not a reporter, you’re posing as a journalist in this room. And that’s very clear at the heart of the question you’re asking. And you and the media people who are so biased but pretend to be journalists shouldn’t even sit in that seat.”
He continued: “But you’re pretending to be a journalist, but you’re a left-wing activist. The question you just asked and the answer you gave prove that you’re biased. You should be reporting the facts. You should be reporting the facts.”
Leavitt told him he should focus more on how many American citizens were being killed by “illegal” immigrants.
“I bet you haven’t even read those stories,” he said. “I’m sure you’ve never read anything about Laken Riley or Jocelyn Nungaray or all the innocent Americans killed by illegal aliens in this country, and how the brave men and women of ICE are doing everything they can to take out these disgusting individuals and make our communities safer. Shame on people like you in the media who have a distorted perspective, a biased perspective, and pretend to be a real, honest journalist.”
Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed by an ICE agent during a federal immigration enforcement raid in Minneapolis on January 7. His killing sparked passionate protests and condemnation across the country, as well as ongoing political debate over the basic facts of the videotaped incident.
The Trump administration staunchly defended the agent, identified as Jonathan Ross, claiming he fired multiple shots in self-defense as Good tried to hit him and other officers with his car. The FBI has just started investigating the case.
Trump said incorrectly Interview with the New York Times Good “crushed” her, while Noem accused Good of “domestic terrorism.” J.D. Vance wrote to x That Ross was “defending his life against a deranged leftist who was trying to crush him.” US officials also claimed that Ross suffered internal bleeding after being hit by his vehicle.
But video reconstruction of the incident It looks like this by the New York Times It shows that the car did not hit Ross and that Good was trying to flee the area rather than running over the officers.
The city, where thousands of federal immigration agents are still in Minneapolis following Good’s killing, once again erupted in protests after a man was shot in the leg during an enforcement operation in a northern neighborhood on Wednesday, and Minnesota governor Tim Walz called on Trump to “turn the temperature down.”
In a statement, he asked the president to “stop this campaign of revenge” and urged Minnesotans demonstrating to “speak loudly, urgently, but also peacefully.”
