White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt implored Democrats to spend time with Immigration and Customs Enforcement following violent clashes between law enforcement officers and protesters in Minnesota.
“I would encourage Governor [Tim] Walz and other Democrats who are demeaning law enforcement to sit down and have a cup of coffee with an ICE agent or a border patrol agent,” Leavitt said during Thursday’s White House press briefing.
“These are great, patriotic men and women who have families who put on the uniform every day and are following our nation’s immigration laws at the direction of their bosses, and again, at the direction of the law,” she said. “They are simply trying to enforce the law, and the Democrat Party has demeaned these individuals. They even refer to them as Nazis and as the Gestapo, and that is absolutely leading to the violence we’re seeing in the streets.”
TRUMP THREATENS MINNESOTA WITH INSURRECTION ACT AFTER SECOND FEDERAL SHOOTING REIGNITES PROTESTERS
Protests in Minneapolis have turned violent after an ICE officer fatally shot Renee Good, a Minnesota woman accused of trying to kill federal officers. A second shooting occurred on Wednesday evening as a federal officer shot an illegal immigrant in the leg after being attacked. President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act on Thursday morning, claiming that “insurrectionists” are causing chaos in the streets.
Leavitt slammed the protesters and Democrats for intimidating ICE officers during her briefing.
“If you look at some of the images out of Minneapolis last night. Look at this vehicle. Look at what it says. It says ‘F*** ICE,’” she said, holding up images to the press corps. “You have these individuals who are putting their middle finger proudly so at the camera. Another ICE vehicle that was vandalized last night by these left-wing agitators. People don’t do this without encouragement from people in power who make them feel like it’s OK.”
‘You shouldn’t even be sitting in that seat’
Things grew testy with Leavitt after Niall Stanage, a columnist with the Hill, questioned the press secretary about ICE’s behavior, including Good’s death and the number of U.S. citizens who have been detained by the agency.
Leavitt accused Stanage of bias after he claimed that the ICE officer who shot Good acted recklessly.
“So you’re a biased reporter,” she said.
“You asked me my honest opinion. What do you want me to do?” Stanage shot back.
“Yes, because you’re a left-wing hack. You’re not a reporter. You’re posing in this room as a journalist, and it’s so clear by the premise of your question, and you and the people of the media who have such biases, but fake like you’re a journalist, you shouldn’t even be sitting in that seat,” Leavitt responded.
“You’re pretending that you’re a journalist, but you’re a left-wing activist,” she said. “And the question that you just raised and your answer proves your bias. You should be reporting on the facts.”
Leavitt then asked Stanage: “Do you have the numbers of how many American citizens were killed at the hands of illegal aliens who ICE is trying to remove from this country?”
She went on to accuse the reporter of not reading about Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray, whom she described as “innocent Americans who were killed at the hands of illegal aliens in this country.”
“Shame on people like you in the media who have a crooked view and have a biased view and pretend like you’re a real honest journalist,” Leavitt said before moving on to another question.
