White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clashed with a reporter during Thursday’s briefing after the discussion turned to the death of Renee Good, a 37-year-old woman who authorities say was fatally shot during a federal immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis. The exchange is captured in video (25:55 minutes) posted by The White House.
In the briefing, Leavitt asked the reporter, “Why was Renee Good unfortunately and tragically killed?” The reporter replied, “Are you asking me my opinion? Because an ICE agent acted recklessly and killed unjustified.” Leavitt quickly called the response unfair and called the reporter “a left-wing hack.” She told the reporter, “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 argued the reporter should be “reporting on the facts.”
Leavitt then switched to crime related to immigration and pushed the reporter for data on how many Americans had been slain “at the hands of illegal aliens” that ICE is seeking to get rid of.
She added that the deaths of Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray were examples of cases that the press should be covering. She also condemned what she called a “crooked” and “biased” view of the media.
The confrontation came as Minneapolis officials have demanded answers in the wake of the Jan. 7 shooting.
Transcript: Karoline Leavitt and Reporter Exchange
Note: Conversation formatted for readability. Wording preserved exactly as per transcript from the video clip.
Reporter : Thanks Caroline. Um earlier you were just defending ICE agents generally and earlier on Secretary Noem spoke to the media and she said among other things that they are doing everything correctly. 32 people died in ICE custody last year. 170 US citizens were detained by ICE and uh Renee Good was shot in the head and killed by an ICE agent. How does that equate to them doing everything correctly?
Karoline Leavitt : Why was Renee Good unfortunately and tragically killed?
Reporter : Are you asking me my opinion? Because an ICE agent acted recklessly and killed unjustified.
Karoline Leavitt: Oh, okay. So, you’re a biased reporter with a leftwing opinion.
Karoline Leavitt: What do you want me to do? Yeah, because you’re a left-wing hack.
Karoline Leavitt: You’re not a reporter. You’re posing in this room as a journalist.
Karoline Leavitt: And it’s so clear by the premise of your question.
Karoline Leavitt: And you and the people in the media who have such biases but fake like you’re a journalist. You shouldn’t even be sitting in that seat.
Karoline Leavitt: But you’re pretending like you’re a journalist, but you’re a left-wing activist. And the question that you just raised and your answer proves your bias.
Karoline Leavitt: You should be reporting on the facts. You should be reporting on the cases.
Karoline Leavitt: 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.
Karoline Leavitt: I bet you didn’t even read up on those stories. I bet you never even read about Lake and Riley or Joselyn Nungre or all of the innocent Americans who were
Karoline Leavitt: killed at the hands of illegal aliens in this country.
Karoline Leavitt: And the brave men and women of ICE are doing everything in their power to remove those heinous individuals and make our communities safer.
Karoline Leavitt: And 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 journalist.
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