‘Absolute Disgrace’; Vance RIPS Media as ‘Agents of Propaganda’ For MN Shooting

Vice President JD Vance took to the White House Briefing Room podium Thursday afternoon to answer questions about Wednesday’s deadly ICE-involved shooting in Minneapolis, but not before launching into one of multiple take downs for the “irresponsible” liberal media outlets acting as “agents of propaganda” and “lying about” both the ICE officer and the facts borne out in multiple videos.

At one point, Vance called the behavior “one of the most disgraceful things I’ve ever seen” while, in another fiery statement, argued “some in the media are participating” alongside far-left demonstrators in “trying to incite violence against our law enforcement offices.”

Just prior to opening himself up for questions, he took issue with a loaded CNN headline that read “Outrage after ICE officer kills U.S. citizen in Minneapolis.” Vance sounded like one of us at NewsBusters in diagraming all that was left out with CNN “lying about this attack” and part of the wider media coverage he found to be “an absolute disgrace”:

 

Our friend and MRC Bulldog Award winner Mary Margaret Olohan received the first question and read to Vance a quote from Democrat Governor Tim Walz comparing Minnesotans protesting ICE to Unionists at Gettysburg in the Civil War:

 

The “new media seat” recipient came next, which was former Washington Post and Politico reporter Rachael Bade, now with her own independent site The D.C. Huddle (alongside Dan Turrentine and our friend Sean Spicer).

Vance replied “nobody wants an American citizen to be killed” and what took place with Renee Good dying was “absolutely a tragedy, but it’s a...making of the far left” and demonizing of ICE officers trying to enforce immigration laws:

 

Following one question from Fox’s Peter Doocy asking him to explain more about “who...is behind this broader left-wing network” Vance said was behind the anti-ICE vigilantism in Minneapolis, NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell lectured Vance for “describing [Good] as a deranged leftist, talking about very specific facts of these events when an investigation is just beginning.”

Vance wasn’t having this and reiterated Good was “trying to obstruct a legitimate law enforcement operation” by “aim[ing] her car at a law enforcement officer and press[ing] on the accelerator,” part and parcel of the “lunatic fringe” attacking “our law enforcement officers” when the real response should be “the ballot box” if one is opposed to ICE’s actions.

Virulent Trump and MAGA hater Rachel Scott of ABC News was next and lamented the “heated rhetoric..from officials,” wondering “what responsibility” he and President Trump have “to defuse some of the tension.”

Vance reemphasized he’s “not happy that this woman lost her life” and “the best way to turn down the temperature is to tell people to take their concerns about immigration policy to the ballot box, stop assaulting and stop inciting violence”:

 

Two questioners later, the Independent’s Andrew Feinberg asked Vance to explain why someone being part of “a left-wing network to...make it impossible for ICE officers...justify being shot”:

 

In response to a question from AFP’s Danny Kemp, Vance argued “[w]hat’s not reasonable” in debating Good’s intentions “is for so many of you to plaster all over the media that this was an innocent woman and that the ICE agent committed murder”

 

Vance again tore into the press while responding to a question about whether he had “any words to unite America” when “it seems like...riots could be around the corner.” 

He went as far as calling the disinformation about the incident and personal attacks on the ICE officer “one of the biggest scandals I’ve ever seen in media” and no “case” that’s been “so misrepresented and misreported when you have a guy who is defending himself and is now being treated as some sort of federal assassin by so many of the people in this room”:

 

“Have your debates about policy. Attack me. Attack the President of United States. Don’t attack our law enforcement officers. They are trying to do the job the American people demanded that they do that, that they are not policy actors. They are enforcing the law,” he argued.

Gray TV’s Jon Decker next asked “what’s your message...to those protesters who saw that video in a completely different way than you saw that video” (click “expand”):

Well, first of all, I think if you watch every angle of that video, there’s one angle where if you squint, you can maybe tell yourself that it’s not clear what happened. But when you look at all angles of that video, it is very clear that her vehicle went right for the guy. She actually collided with him. And then that’s of course, when he fired his shots. That’s obvious, okay? So, what I’d say to the protesters is, by all means, protest peacefully, but make this about ideas. Make this about disagreement with our policy. Don’t use your protest as a justification or an encouragement for people to go and incite violence and participate in violence against our law enforcement officials.

To the people on the ground in Minneapolis, meaning the local officials in Minneapolis from Tim Walz on down. I’d say, look, why can’t you just disagree with a given piece of immigration policy without turning law enforcement into the enemy? And what I mean, think about, for example, a criminal law where a police officer goes and arrests somebody because they violated a criminal law. If you’re mad about that, go and protest the politician who passed that law. Don’t attack the police officer who is just doing their job. We had a wide-open border under Joe Biden. I happen to think it’s a good thing the president of United States has closed it down. If you think that’s a bad idea, criticize this administration for a policy decision. Don’t attack our people for enforcing the law, because I guarantee you go to ICE. There are black people and white people. There are Democrats and Republicans. They are patriotic Americans who are trying to enforce the law. Attack me. Lay off of our ICE agents.

Later on, Reuters’s Nandita Bose wanted to know about the current status of the agent. Vance reminded reporters the man in question was hit last year by a car while on an immigration operation that “led to over 30 stitches and very serious injuries to his legs,” so “the media pre-judging..this guy as if he’s a murderer, is one of the most disgraceful things I’ve ever seen from the American media”:

 

Towards the back end of the briefing, Vance faced questions on a few other topics, such as Greenland, protests in Iran, and U.S. involvement in Venezuela. CBS’s Ed O’Keefe had one of the questions on Venezuela:

 

Vance also offered some parting thoughts for the media and the “irresponsible” journalists smearing the ICE agent, which felt much like the great Kayleigh McEnany so often did in her days as White House press secretary:

To see the relevant transcript from the January 8 briefing, click here.