Leavitt Rips Democrats for Inciting ‘Left-Wing Agitators and Crazy People’ Against Feds
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt delivered a blistering condemnation of Democrat leaders in Minnesota on Monday, accusing them of inciting chaos and fueling violent opposition to federal immigration enforcement.
Leavitt directly called out Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for what she described as “spreading lies about federal law enforcement officers who are risking their lives daily to remove the worst criminal illegal aliens from our streets: murderers, rapists, pedophiles, human traffickers, and gang members.”
Frey and Walz have been two of the most outspoken critics of immigration enforcement in the state. Frey has accused ICE of “terrorizing our communities,” while Walz has gone as far as comparing ICE to Nazi forces. Over the weekend, Walz claimed that illegal immigrants in Minnesota are living a modern version of the Anne Frank story, sparking outrage and condemnation from groups including the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Leavitt didn’t hold back.
“Such dangerous rhetoric, as I pointed out, is exactly what has brought us to this position today,” Leavitt said at the press briefing. “You have elected Democrat officials across the country who are encouraging left-wing agitators and crazy people to go out and unlawfully obstruct lawful immigration enforcement.”
She continued, “This rhetoric against ICE, comparing them to Nazi Gestapo, Donald Trump’s police force, is despicable, it is shameful, and it is precisely what has led to the escalation of tensions in Minneapolis and in other places across the country.”
Tensions have reached a boiling point in the Twin Cities. On Saturday, a Customs and Border Protection agent shot and killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti, who was allegedly interfering with a federal operation in Minneapolis. Just weeks earlier, Renee Good was shot and killed after appearing to drive her vehicle at an ICE agent during a separate immigration enforcement action.
In the wake of the unrest, President Trump and Governor Walz spoke by phone Monday in what both sides described as a step toward de-escalation. “We, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. Walz’s office called the discussion “productive.”
Still, Trump made clear that cooperation is key moving forward. Leavitt confirmed the president would consider scaling back CBP presence in the state—but only if local law enforcement agrees to assist ICE in arresting violent criminal aliens.
The ball, it seems, is now in Governor Walz’s court.