It increasingly appears that the Detained Kid Hoax was set to be this year’s Kids in Cages- a catalyst for media-fueled outrage with which Elitist Media would attempt to browbeat Republicans appearing on their shows. But, as demonstrated on CBS’s Face the Nation, this doesn’t always work.
Watch as Brennan attempts this emotional manipulation on House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), to little effect:
WATCH: Margaret Brennan tries to run the Detained Kids Hoax by Steve Scalise, gets shut down pic.twitter.com/Gil1qXy5em
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) January 25, 2026
MARGARET BRENNAN: ICE detained at least five kids, including five-year-old Liam Ramos, who was taken into custody by men in masks. Does this picture sound right to you? Are you comfortable with how this is being implemented?
STEVE SCALISE: Let's keep in mind that the five year old's father was here illegally and was evading law enforcement and abandoned his child. ICE actually--
BRENNAN: --the family--
SCALISE: --protected the child--
BRENNAN: --The family disputes that. The administration has a problem with the previous administration's legal system for asylum, that's- they don't like the app he used to file for asylum.
[CROSSTALK]
SCALISE: Well, Joe- Joe Biden allowed--
BRENNAN: --And they dispute that he fled--.
SCALISE: --millions of people to come into our country illegally, including very violent people, Margaret--
BRENNAN: --But they are retroactively trying to change the legality of the status--
SCALISE: --people from prisons in other countries. President Trump was elected. The number one issue last year was President Trump saying--
BRENNAN: --Absolutely--
SCALISE: -- I'm going to secure the border, and he's doing it. But also he's removing violent people. 416,000--
BRENNAN: --The father did not have a criminal record of any kind of violence--
SCALISE: --criminals- illegals have been arrested by ICE.
It could be reasonably argued that the entire interview was an exercise in emotional manipulation. Brennan opened the interview by tying the current unrest to the shooting at a baseball field that nearly ended Scalise’s life. On the one hand, she’s right- they were both perpetrated by radical leftists. On the other- Minnesota is about ongoing efforts to impede the implementation of federal law. Scalise rightly ignored Brennan’s frame and proceeded to respond to her question.
Brennan tried to pin Scalise down on polling and on the Second Amendment (expect a lot of media concern trolling on 2A), to no avail. Each time, Scalise would circle back to the unique circumstances of Minnesota’s troubles. Scalise also brought up the massive fraud investigation, which was barely covered (beyond CBS) to begin with, and has now disappeared from the news.
It is then that the interview closes with one final exchange, precipitated by Brennan’s citation of the Detained Kids Hoax. It is public knowledge by now that the children are not actual ICE targets, but the unfortunate victims of their parents’ actions. In the case of Liam, the oft-mentioned 5-year-old, ICE cared for him because no one else in the household stepped forward to take custody. Per reports, the agents took him to McDonald’s, fed him, and cared for him until his father requested they be kept together. And they are now together in a least-restrictive family detention facility.
This is very favorably comparable with what happens to the children of U.S. citizens arrested by law enforcement. In those cases, the child is held until custody is sorted out. But there are times when the child goes into CPS custody. This is an angle not often mentioned in the media, and viewers are left to believe that this is some unique phenomena.
Scalise handled both Brennan and the Detained Kids Hoax. As we’ve previously stated, much of the coverage of events in Minneapolis appears to be designed to shape opinion rather than inform it.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned interview as aired on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday, January 25th, 2026:
BRENNAN: And we turn now to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who joins us from New Orleans. Good morning to you.
STEVE SCALISE: Good morning, Margaret.
BRENNAN: I know in addition to being a leader in Congress, you have this unique experience of having been the victim of political violence yourself. You know how dangerous rhetoric can be. We've heard a lot of anger in the past 24 hours, and your fellow Louisianan Senator Bill Cassidy said the events in Minneapolis are not only incredibly disturbing, but the credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake. He called for a joint federal and state investigation. Would you join his call?
SCALISE: Well, I don't question the credibility of ICE. They're doing an incredibly hard job. They're- look we are all, just feel sorry about what happened in Minneapolis. And this has happened over and over again. I mean, I'm not just talking about regarding ICE. I mean, they've got some failed local leadership. They let their city burn down years ago. They have chaos, it seems like all the time in places where other cities don't. ICE is operating in a lot of cities, Margaret, and you don't have these kind of incidents in any other city but Minneapolis--
BRENNAN: -- You don't- don't see these numbers either?-- .
SCALISE: -- and so, I wish yesterday didn't happen. What's that?
BRENNAN: You don't see these numbers either, though, when we looked at, for example, at the federal response in New Orleans. I mean, it's just a fraction of the number of federal agents. Nearly 3,000 is quite a lot for a city the size of Minneapolis.
SCALISE: Well, that's because they didn't get resistance in cities like New Orleans, where, you know, when you look in Minneapolis, and I just listened to the chief, and you could hear him lamenting four times, I think he said that they're strapped so thin. And let's keep in mind, Minneapolis is a city that defunded their police. That's not the chief's fault. That's the failed Democrat leader's fault. But at the same time, when they defund the police, that leaves the chief stretched thin. And so he- was made a decision not to assist ICE-- .
BRENNAN: -- He was talking- he was talking to- dealing with the federal issues. Because when you look at the Minnesota database, shooting victims down 76%, homicides down 67%, burglary down 39% year-to-date, sex offenses down, robberies down, motor vehicle theft is up. So he was talking about the response- the deal that they have now, that the stretch they have now dealing with the federal agents who are there.
SCALISE: Well, but remember, these agents have also arrested thousands of violent criminals in Minneapolis. That's one of the reasons that crime is down, and we're seeing that across the country. ICE- look again, anytime something bad happens, we all lament that. I wish it didn't happen. But the rhetoric does need to be toned down, but we also need to remember, why is ICE doing this in cities? They're enforcing federal law, Margaret. The law says you can't be here illegally and if you're committing violent crimes. The President made it clear, in fact, he was elected. President Trump was elected to get rid of criminals in our communities. 416,000 criminals have been arrested by ICE just in the last year. That has helped make our communities safer.
BRENNAN: Well, it's interesting you bring up the politics of this, because undoubtedly, the President was elected on the platform of immigration enforcement. There was a lot of support for it. But our latest poll shows more than half of Americans say ICE is making communities less safe, almost two thirds of Americans say they dislike the President's approach to his deportation program. There is not public support for the way this policy is being implemented. Do you think there needs to be a reassessment?
SCALISE: Well, if you asked people in a poll, do you want violent criminals that are here illegally in your community? Yes or no? What do you think the answer is going to be? I will tell you, overwhelmingly, they will say, please get the violent criminals out. In fact, you're seeing that on the ground in many, many cities where they are cooperating with ICE, where they don't have sanctuary city policies, and where you don't see by the way, people going in the streets breaking the law to interfere with law enforcement, which is a felony.
BRENNAN: You have been a supporter of the Second Amendment. When Secretary Noem says, "I don't know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammo rather than a sign." Do you believe Americans have the right to bear arms while they're protesting?
SCALISE: Well, first of all, I'm a co-sponsor of Louisiana's law that allows you to have a concealed carry permit. It's worked very well there. I don't know the state law in Minnesota. I know in a state like Louisiana, and frankly, most states, you are not allowed to carry a gun while you're committing another crime and interfering with law enforcement is a felony. It's something that, unfortunately, we're seeing in a lot of cities. You even had the police chief yesterday, Chief O'Hara, that you just had on, yesterday said of the protests going on after the shooting, that they were unlawful. Yes, he actually said it was an unlawful assembly, what a lot of people are doing. And they were throwing things at ICE agents. Throwing projectiles that could harm ICE agents--
BRENNAN: -- Yeah, he wasn't talking about the victim --
SCALISE: -- So, let's tone this down. And-and leaders in Minnesota, by the way, have been ratcheting up the rhetoric. I mean, you saw the governor, Governor Walz said they're Gestapo. He said they're violently hurting people.
BRENNAN: I'm going to have to take this commercial break and let you finish the thought on the other side of it. If you could stay with us, Leader, we have more questions. We'll be right back.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
BRENNAN: Welcome back to Face the Nation and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. Leader, we have seen a letter that Attorney General Pam Bondi sent to Governor Walz out in Minnesota, offering to end the federal surge if the state does a number of things, among them giving access to the food assistance programs and voter registration logs. What's the purpose of that? What's the intent?
SCALISE: Well, I haven't read that letter between Pam Bondi and the governor, but I know that we are investigating tens of billions of dollars of potential fraud coming out of Minnesota. There have been hearings that have already been held. We have a lot of whistle blowers talking to us about major theft of taxpayer money coming out of Minnesota, and these are stealing programs from learning centers, from disabled students, programs that are being stolen, and the Governor did nothing about it. Congress is--
BRENNAN:-- But voter registration logs?--
SCALISE: -- Investigating that aggressively.
BRENNAN: As a conservative, doesn't that make you a little uncomfortable that they're demanding the state hand- hand over voter registration logs like, what's the purpose of that to end ICE enforcement?
SCALISE: Well, I haven't seen the letter. I know- I know we're trying in Congress to deal with putting laws on the books that will make sure that we protect the integrity of the vote nationwide. States like Minnesota have had problems with voter integrity. We want a national standard, the SAVE Act, which makes sure illegals can't vote, but also making sure you show a picture ID. Those are things we're pushing for that's across the board federally.
BRENNAN: Non-citizens cannot vote. But I want to ask you ICE- about all the things that have happened this week, even before that shooting in Minnesota. ICE has said his officers can go into homes without judicial warrants. ICE shot unarmed Renee Good, as you know, claimed that she was a domestic terrorist. An FBI agent resigned after she was ordered not to investigate the officer who shot her. ICE detained at least five kids, including five-year-old Liam Ramos, who was taken into custody by men in masks. Does this picture sound right to you? Are you comfortable with how this is being implemented?
SCALISE: Let's keep in mind that the five year old's father was here illegally and was evading law enforcement and abandoned his child. ICE actually--
BRENNAN: --the family--
SCALISE: --protected the child--
BRENNAN: --The family disputes that. The administration has a problem with the previous administration's legal system for asylum, that's- they don't like the app he used to file for asylum.
[CROSSTALK]
SCALISE: Well, Joe- Joe Biden allowed--
BRENNAN: --And they dispute that he fled--.
SCALISE: --millions of people to come into our country illegally, including very violent people, Margaret--
BRENNAN: --But they are retroactively trying to change the legality of the status--
SCALISE: --people from prisons in other countries. President Trump was elected. The number one issue last year was President Trump saying--
BRENNAN: --Absolutely--
SCALISE: -- I'm going to secure the border, and he's doing it. But also he's removing violent people. 416,000--
BRENNAN: --The father did not have a criminal record of any kind of violence--
SCALISE: --criminals- illegals have been arrested by ICE. 416,000 have been arrested by ICE. These are very bad people, by the way--
BRENNAN: 47% of ICE detainees have criminal charges or convictions. 47%.
SCALISE: --ICE just put up a website. Not ICE, Homeland Security, worst of the worst DHS. Go Google worst of the worst DHS. State by state, they show you all the people that have been picked up in each state. Your state, you can find out horrible people, murderers, rapists, that they picked up that would be on the street--
BRENNAN: --That doesn't apply to the father or five-year-old Liam--
SCALISE: --today if President Trump wasn't securing this country.
BRENNAN: --or the two year old who was separated from her mother.
SCALISE: --that father was here illegally and abandoned his child--
BRENNAN: They are not the worst of the worst, are they?
SCALISE: --Go look at the website. It shows you who they picked up--
BRENNAN: --Are they the worst of the worst, sir?
SCALISE: 416,000 people with violent criminal records. These are people- and by the way, America today has the lowest murder rate that we've had since 1900 in part because of President Trump's actions to get these violent people off our streets. 416,000 have been removed. Do you want them still out on our streets?
BRENNAN: No.
SCALISE: I don't think most people do.
BRENNAN: No and I don't think--
SCALISE: --This is a hard job ICE has.
BRENNAN: --They do, indeed--
SCALISE: And local law enforcement, local officials, the mayor, the governor, should not be encouraging people to go out on the streets and break the law by interfering with law enforcement. That's a felony to interfere with law enforcement--
BRENNAN: --And American citizens are concerned about American citizens being shot, and that's why we are asking the questions--
SCALISE: Yeah, and we don't have that chaos in other cities.
BRENNAN: -about the tax payer funded federal--
SCALISE: --Minneapolis has its own problems--
BRENNAN: Okay.
SCALISE: --failed leadership that has led to a lot of this, and it's unfortunate it happened. I wish it didn't happen. Their failed leaders need to look in the mirror and tone it down.
BRENNAN: I have to go next to our next guest. Leader Steve Scalise, thank you for your time today.
