White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused a reporter of being a “leftwing activist” during a heated exchange on Thursday over the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent. The confrontation occurred during a press briefing when Niall Stanage, a columnist for The Hill, questioned the Trump administration’s defence of ICE agents in light of recent incidents.
Stanage referenced statistics showing 32 deaths in ICE custody last year and 170 US citizens detained by ICE, before noting that Good was “shot in the head and killed by an ICE agent”. He asked Leavitt how that equated to the homeland security secretary’s assertion that ICE were “doing everything correctly”. Leavitt responded by asking Stanage why Good was killed, to which he replied: “Because an ICE agent acted recklessly and killed her unjustifiably.”
Leavitt then launched into a tirade, calling Stanage a “biased reporter with a leftwing opinion” and a “leftwing hack”. She said: “You’re not a reporter, posing in this room as a journalist. … 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.” She accused him of being a “leftwing activist” and told him to focus on American citizens killed by “illegal” immigrants, citing cases like Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray.
Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross during a raid in Minneapolis on 7 January. The Trump administration has defended Ross, claiming self-defence, though a New York Times video reconstruction suggests Good’s car did not strike him and she was attempting to flee. The FBI has begun investigating the incident.
The killing has sparked protests, and on Wednesday another shooting by ICE agents left a man injured, prompting Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to call on President Trump to “turn the temperature down” and stop a “campaign of retribution”.
