White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt berated a reporter Thursday for asking about the fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis last week, raising her voice and accusing him of showing his “left-wing” bias.
During the White House press briefing, The Hill’s Niall Stanage pressed Ms. Leavitt about recent deaths in ICE custody as well as the killing of Renee Nicole Good after she used her car to interfere with an ICE enforcement operation.
“Thirty-two people died in ICE custody last year, 170 U.S. citizens were detained by ICE and Renee Good was shot in the head and killed by an ICE agent. How does that equate to them doing everything correctly?” Mr. Stanage asked.
Ms. Leavitt fired back, asking Mr. Stanage why Good was “unfortunately and tragically killed.”
Taken aback, Mr. Stanage replied, “Oh, you’re asking my opinion.”
“Yes,” Ms. Leavitt responded.
“Because an ICE agent acted recklessly and killed her unjustifiably,” Mr. Stanage said.
That prompted Ms. Leavitt to unleash a furious attack against Mr. Stanage, which at times became personal. She called him a “biased reporter with a left-wing opinion.”
Ms. Leavitt also suggested that Mr. Stanage should not be in the press room because he was “posing as a journalist.”
“You shouldn’t even be sitting in that seat, but you’re pretending like you’re a journalist but you’re a left-wing activist and the question that you just raised in your answer proves your bias,” she said.
She went on, raising her voice at Mr. 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? I bet you don’t, I bet you didn’t even read up on those stories.”
“I bet you never even write about Laken Riley or Jocelyn Nungaray or all of the innocent Americans who were killed at the hands of illegal aliens in this country and the brave and women of ICE are doing everything in their power to remove those heinous individuals and make our community safer,” she said.
“Shame on people like you in the media who have a crooked view and have a biased view and pretend like you’re real honest journalists,” Ms. Leavitt continued.
Good was shot dead after driving her car at an ICE agent. She was blocking the roadway with her SUV during protests of immigration enforcement in the city. Her death has touched off a wave of anti-iCE protests.
President Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if the protests and attacks on federal agents worsen in Minnesota.
