Hypocrisy was in high gear on Morning Joe today regarding the Minneapolis ICE shooting. The panel accused President Trump and JD Vance of "prejudging" the situation and "jumping to conclusions." But the panel repeatedly described Renee Nicole Good as "the victim." If Good is the victim, that, ipso facto, makes the ICE agents the guilty parties. So who's prejudging now?
That wasn't the only instance of hypocrisy/double standards on display. Former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson lamented that instead of "trying to calm people's fears down," leaders "are simply playing to [their] base and trying to amp it up." While Johnson didn't name names, this is MS NOW, so his accusation clearly seemed aimed at the Trump administration.
But when it comes to playing to the base and amping things up instead of calming people's fears, consider these statements by an array of Democrats:
- Tim Walz called ICE "Trump's Gestapo," and declared, as he mobilized the MN National Guard, "we've never been at war with our federal government [until now?]"
- Jasmine Crockett called ICE "slave patrols."
- Ilhan Omar called ICE agents "vile and beyond cruel."
- Hakeem Jeffries implored people to "fight" the Trump administration "in the streets."
- Good old Maxine Waters called Trump "lowdown, no good, filthy," over ICE raids.
And then there was Willie Geist, who didn't have his facts handy. He accused JD Vance of "jumping to conclusions" for saying that Good was part of a "broader left-wing network." Willie was apparently unaware that, as the New York Post has reported, Good was a member of "ICE Watch, a group of activists who worked to 'document and resist'" ICE activities. Good was described by someone who knew her as "a warrior."
Note: In his remarks on the shooting, JD Vance criticized the media for failing to note that the ICE agent positioned in front of Good's vehicle had recently been involved in another incident in which he was caught and dragged by a fleeing suspect's vehicle, and suffered injuries requiring 33 stitches. Mika Brzezinski engaged in a form of faux sympathy, suggesting that if the agent was "so sensitive" as to become "trigger happy," he shouldn't have been allowed on the job.
Here's the transcript.
MS NOW
Morning Joe
1/9/25
6:00 am ETJD VANCE: This was an attack on federal law enforcement. This was an attack on law and order. This was an attack on the American people. The way that the media, by and large, has reported this story has been an absolute disgrace, and it puts our law enforcement officers at risk every single day.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Media analyst and Vice President, J.D. Vance blaming the victim, and the media, following Wednesday's deadly shooting by an ICE agent in Minneapolis . . . Vice President J.D. Vance yesterday defended the officer's actions and blamed the victim yesterday during a briefing at the White House.
VANCE: What that headline leaves out is the fact that that very ICE officer nearly had his life ended, dragged by a car six months ago, 33 stitches in his leg. So you think maybe he's a little bit sensitive about somebody ramming him with an automobile? What that headline leaves out is that that woman was there to interfere with a legitimate law enforcement operation in the United States of America. What that headline leaves out is that that woman is part of a broader left-wing network to attack, to dox, to assault, and to make it impossible for our ICE officers to do their job. She was trying to ram this guy with her car. He shot back. He defended himself. He's already been seriously wounded in law enforcement operations before. And everybody who's been repeating the lie that this is some innocent woman who was out for a drive in Minneapolis when a law enforcement officer shot at her, you should be ashamed of yourselves.
. . .
MIKA: If this guy is so sensitive and the victim of a trauma, what's he doing out in the field? It's just a question. Yeah, I, I don't understand what's going on here. He's been through an incredible trauma. Injured in that trauma. He's out in the field. And that's the explanation? He's trigger-happy because he's traumatized? Great.
JEH JOHNSON: Well, first of all, it's important to remember that the victim, her name is Renee Good, mother of three, who's dead today. I've looked at this video now maybe a dozen times, including at least six on this show yesterday. You don't have to be a law enforcement expert. You don't have to be a former Secretary of Homeland Security to know what happened, to see what happened.
Let's assume that Renee Good was there in an effort to somehow obstruct the enforcement of immigration laws. She was approached by several ICE officers, agents, armed, in a very menacing, aggressive fashion. Looks like she panicked and tried to veer off to the right flee the situation, and she was shot lethally three times in the course of trying to flee.
What I also see here that is problematic is, so many of our nation's leaders are prejudging what happened here, attacking the victim before the investigation is concluded. Actually, Tom Homan is the only one who had it right, who said, I'm going to [a]wait the results of the investigation. Tom Homan is a career law enforcement officer who used to work for me.
. . .
MIKA: The president is blaming the victim and the vice president is blaming the victim.
. . .
WILLIE GEIST: Yeah, and the vice president suggested yesterday during that news briefing that this ICE agent would have immunity in this case because of the context of the shooting.
Again, jumping to all kinds of conclusions before an investigation even has begun, and even suggesting that this woman is part of a, quote, broader left-wing network. He was pressed on that by a reporter and couldn't explain what he meant by that. He just assumed that she was part of something and therefore, I guess, deserved to be shot in the face as she was driving away.
. . .
JOHNSON: The litmus test for our elected leaders in a moment like this is, are you amping it up in your rhetoric or are you trying to tamp it down? Are you trying, for example, Spencer Cox, governor of Utah, after the assassination of Charlie Kirk there. Are you trying to calm people's fears down, or are you simply playing to your base and trying to amp it up? And I'm afraid there are too many in the latter category right now.
. . .
MIKA: The vice president has helped with the investigation in one way, pointing out that this shooter, the ICE agent in this case, was apparently extremely sensitive, a victim of trauma. And so you wonder about not just the training, but the regulations about putting ICE agents in the field who are suffering from trauma. Sounds like a very bad decision.
