Vance Torches Walz, Media on Minnesota Shooting: ‘This was an Attack on Law and Order’

Vance Torches Walz, Media on Minnesota Shooting: ‘This was an Attack on Law and Order’

Vice President JD Vance torched the media and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz regarding the Minnesota shooting of a woman by an ICE agent.

I included the video of Vance’s remarks, starting when he begins talking about Minnesota and ICE, at the end of the post.

I've seen a lot of dishonest coverage from the media during my time in politics, but the last 24 hours may have set a new low. pic.twitter.com/V8q4mcSCtS

— JD Vance (@JDVance) January 8, 2026

Vance made the remarks after announcing a new federal task force to combat fraud nationwide, starting in Minnesota.

Attack on Law and Order

Right after concluding his announcement, Vance brought up a CNN headline someone passed him before he took the stage:

I’ll take some questions, but I want to just one final observation here. When I was actually walking out here, somebody sent me a photo of a CNN headline about what happened in Minneapolis, and this is the headline. I’m just going to read it: “Outrage After ICE officer Kills US Citizen in Minneapolis.” Well, that’s one way to put it, and that is the way that many people in the corporate media have put this attack over the last 24 hours, and I say attack very, very intentionally, because 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.

What that headline leaves out is the fact that that the 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 has as 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.

If the media wants to tell the truth, they ought to tell the truth that a group of left wing radicals have been working tirelessly, sometimes using domestic terror techniques, to try to make it impossible for the President of the United States to do what the American people elected him to do, which is enforce our immigration laws.

The President stands with ICE. I stand with ICE. We stand with all of our law enforcement officers, and part of that is recognizing that you people in the media, not everybody in this room, but many people in this room, have been lying about this attack. She was trying to ram this guy with his 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. Every single one of you.

🔥 from Vice President @JDVance on media coverage of yesterday's events in Minneapolis…

“When I was actually walking out here, somebody sent me a photo of a CNN headline about what happened in Minneapolis. And this is the headline. I will just read it: ‘Outrage after ICE… pic.twitter.com/g6L7pfIrEU

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 8, 2026

“Tim Walz is a Joke”

Walz has tried so hard to be a tough guy.

LOL. I laughed so hard I actually snorted:

.@realDailyWire’s @MaryMargOlohan: “I wanted to read a quote from Tim Walz earlier today. He said: ‘when things look bleak, it was Minnesota’s 1st that held the line for the nation on July 3, 1863 and I think we may be in that moment now.’ Can you comment on his rhetoric and Mayor Jacob Frey and whether they want to see unrest in Minneapolis?”

@VP @JDVance: “Well, that’s very tough rhetoric from a guy who just quit because his fraudulent activities have been uncovered. Look, Tim Walz is a joke. His entire administration has been a joke. The idea that he’s some sort of freedom fighter, he’s not. He’s a guy who has enabled fraud and maybe, in fact, has participated in fraud. That’s what this new assistant attorney general position is going to find out. I don’t care what Tim Walz says. I care about getting to the bottom of this fraud for the American people. And I care about enforcing the nation’s immigration laws. That’s what we’re going to stay focused on.”

.@realDailyWire’s @MaryMargOlohan: “I wanted to read a quote from Tim Walz earlier today. He said: ‘when things look bleak, it was Minnesota's 1st that held the line for the nation on July 3, 1863 and I think we may be in that moment now.’ Can you comment on his rhetoric and… pic.twitter.com/FJPiZVtmqZ

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 8, 2026

Easier to Enforce the Law

Oh, you think the Trump administration is going to back down? Think again:

.@DCHuddle’s @RachaelMBade in the “new media seat”: “I mean, Democrats have accused ICE of murder. They’ve said they’re targeting Americans. They’ve told ICE to get the F out of Minnesota. This is going to stoke the fire against ICE agents. And you’re talking about ICE agents right now being concerned about. What, if anything, is the administration going to do to make sure these folks are protected during these protests? But also, should DHS sort of revisit their procedures here? I mean, nobody wants to see an American killed. Are there changes that need to be made to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again?”

@VP @JDVance: Look, first of all, of course nobody wants an American citizen to be killed. This is absolutely a tragedy, but it’s a tragedy of the making of the far left. They have radicalized a very small segment of the population, taught them that ICE agents are engaging in, in wide-scale violation of people’s rights. What are ICE officers are doing is deporting the millions of criminal aliens that were let in during the Biden administration.

So, number one, we have to say, as a matter of leadership, and I would appreciate if the Democrats would join me on this. Let’s be honest about the fact that we have way too many illegal aliens in this country. Our ICE officers should be supported in doing their job. You’re trying to actually marshal the far left lunatic fringe, to engage in doxxing, to try to make it impossible for them to enforce the law, and in some cases, actually to engage in acts of domestic terrorism against our law enforcement officers.

When you talk about different plans, different protocols, different policies, I forget exactly how you asked the question.

Here’s the simple fact. What we’re going to do is make it easier for the American people’s administration to enforce the American people’s law, and that means that Democrats have to stop rallying the mob against legitimate law enforcement operations.

And that means that we are going to get tougher, and that’s what this AG position is about. We’re going to get tougher at the people who are defrauding the United States by inciting violence against our law enforcement officers.

That’s one of the things that we’re going to do. We’ve already started that work at the Department of Justice. We’re going to keep on doing it and this new AG position is going to kick that into high gear.

.@DCHuddle’s @RachaelMBade in the “new media seat”: “I mean, Democrats have accused ICE of murder. They've said they're targeting Americans. They've told ICE to get the F out of Minnesota. This is going to stoke the fire against ICE agents. And you're talking about ICE agents… pic.twitter.com/HzxRF4IqeN

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 8, 2026

Network of Leftists

Vance believes a network of far-left groups has caused these protests:

DOOCY TIME: “Vice President Vance, you just suggested that this woman who was killed, Renee Good, is part of a broader left wing network. Who do you think is behind this broader left wing network?”

@VP @JDVance: “Well, one of the things we’re going to have to figure out. But here’s the way that I put it. When somebody throws a brick at an ICE agent or somebody tries to run over an ICE agent, who paid for the brick and who told protesters to show up and engage in violent activity against our law enforcement officers? You see, just with this most recent terrible incident in Minneapolis, you see friends of this woman’s or other people who are eyewitnesses saying basically that she was there to engage in obstruction of a legitimate law enforcement operation. How did she get there? How did she learn about this? There’s an entire network, and frankly, some of the media are participating in it that is trying to incite violence against our law enforcement officers. It’s ridiculous. It’s preposterous, and part of our investigatory work is getting to the bottom of it. Who’s funding it, who’s supporting it, who’s cheerleading it. And of course, if there’s illegal activity related to that, we’re going to get to the bottom of that and prosecute it where we can.”

DOOCY TIME: “Vice President Vance, you just suggested that this woman who was killed, Renee Good, is part of a broader left wing network. Who do you think is behind this broader left wing network?”@VP @JDVance: “Well, one of the things we’re going to have to figure out. But… pic.twitter.com/LMXYrl6LKC

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 8, 2026

Describing the Driver as a Deranged Leftist

Vance justified his calling the driver a deranged leftist:

NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell: “Is there a risk with you describing her as a deranged leftist, talking about very specific facts of these events when an investigation is just beginning? Are you preempting a thorough investigation by drawing such conclusions? And have you received any information beyond the videos we’ve seen publicly about this individual, her specific acts that has informed your point of view?”

@VP @JDVance: Well, first of all, the Department of Justice is going to investigate this. The Department of Homeland Security is already investigating this. But the simple fact is, what you see is what you get.

In this case, you have a woman who is trying to obstruct a legitimate law enforcement operation. Nobody debates that. You have a woman who aimed her car at a law enforcement officer and pressed on the accelerator. Nobody debates that. I can believe that her death is a tragedy, while also recognizing that it’s a tragedy of her own making and a tragedy of the far left who has marshaled an entire movement, a lunatic fringe against our law enforcement officers.

I think what is clearly happening here, and it’s going to keep on happening unless the Democrats wake up and say, you know what? You don’t have to agree with our immigration policies. You don’t have to agree with what the President or the Vice President believe about immigration enforcement.

But why don’t you take this to the ballot box? Why don’t you vote? Why don’t you organize? Instead, what some of them are doing, what some of them are doing, is encouraging people to get violent with our law enforcement officials. It’s disgraceful. And it’s got to stop.

NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell: “Is there a risk with you describing her as a deranged leftist, talking about very specific facts of these events when an investigation is just beginning? Are you preempting a thorough investigation by drawing such conclusions? And have you received any… pic.twitter.com/dOi24X5MEV

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 8, 2026

Bringing Down the Temperature

A reporter asked Vance what responsibility he and Trump have to bring down the temperature over the shooting.

Well, Vance reminded the reporter that it’s hard not to be mad watching these law enforcement officers facing abuse:

ABC’s @RachelVScott: “There’s a lot of emotion in Minnesota across the country over this incident, but you’re calling Renee Good a deranged leftist. There’s been heated rhetoric that we’ve also heard from officials. What responsibility do you and the President have to defuse some of the tension that we are seeing play out in Minnesota, bring down the temperature as this investigation is unfolding?”

@VP @JDVance: What we have a responsibility to do is to protect the people who are enforcing the law and protect the country writ large, whether you’re Democrat or Republican, you deserve to have the people’s laws enforced in the United States of America. Now, again, I don’t — I’m not happy that this woman lost her life. I’m not happy that this woman was there at a protest, violating the law by interfering with a law enforcement action.

I think that we can all recognize that 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 against our law enforcement officers. That’s the best way to take down the temperature.

And we’re not — look, we’re not going to give in to terrorism on this and that’s exactly what’s happening. People trying to antagonize to commit acts of violence. They throw bricks at them. Sometimes, they shoot at them. Sometimes, they dox them. Sometimes they go to their place of residence and harass their families. This is classic terrorism.

And we cannot say that when, when, when a far-left fringe is inciting violence against our brave law enforcement officials, that we’re no longer going to enforce the law, that’s rewarding the very people who are engaged in this garbage. The actual reward that they just got is a new assistant attorney general who is going to prosecute and investigate this stuff even more, even more aggressively than before.

ABC’s @RachelVScott: “There’s a lot of emotion in Minnesota across the country over this incident, but you’re calling Renee Good a deranged leftist. There’s been heated rhetoric that we’ve also heard from officials. What responsibility do you and the President have to defuse some… pic.twitter.com/VbHZuubNQ5

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 8, 2026

Reporter Tries to Say That Vance Justified Being Shot

Oh, boy. The reporter from The Independent tried to get Vance to say that being part of a far-left network justifies getting shot.

Vance wasn’t having it (emphasis mine):

.@Independent’s @AndrewFeinberg: “You said earlier that there’s a left wing network to attack, to dox, to assault, and make it impossible for ICE officers to do their job. You told my colleague just now that there’s an investigation going on into that network.”

@VP@JDVance: “Yep.”

Feinberg: “So, if everything that you say is true, how does being part of that network justify being shot?”

Vance: Well, being part of the network doesn’t justify being shot. But ramming an ICE officer with your car. That’s what justifies being shot. It’s not a good thing, by the way, but when you force somebody to engage in self-defense, it’s almost a preposterous question.

I’m not saying that funding some of this stuff justifies capital punishment. Nobody would suggest that the reason this woman is dead is because she tried to ram somebody with her car, and that guy acted in self-defense. That is why she lost her life and that is the tragedy.

Now, there may be other violations of the law and other penalties that the — that are associated with those violations of the law. For example, if you are funding violence against our law enforcement officers, I’m not a prosecutor. My guess is that’s not the sort of thing that earns capital punishment, but it should sure as hell earn you a few years in prison if you’re funding the effort to try to insult our law enforcement officers.

What is — I’m sorry, guys, what’s going on here? You guys are meant to report the truth. How have you let yourself become agents of propaganda, of a radical fringe that’s making it harder for us to enforce our laws. You just asked me a question that presumed that the reason why this woman died is because she was engaged in legitimate protest. She tried to run somebody over with her car, and the guy defended himself when that happened. Next question.

Feinberg: “The investigation is still ongoing.”

Vance: “I said, next question.”

.@Independent’s @AndrewFeinberg: “You said earlier that there’s a left wing network to attack, to dox, to assault, and make it impossible for ICE officers to do their job. You told my colleague just now that there’s an investigation going on into that network.”@VP @JDVance:… pic.twitter.com/qI9VkyVjQp

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 8, 2026

Vance Doesn’t Like it When You Put Words in His Mouth

Don’t put words in Vance’s mouth:

AFP’s @DannyCTKemp: “Mr. Vice President, you presumably watched the video yourself. There’s not the slightest doubt in your mind, having viewed it, that this the victim — you still believe that she deliberately tried to ram him despite despite seeing this video?”

@VP @JDVance: Look, I don’t know what it’s in a person’s heart or in a person’s head. And obviously, we’re not going to get the chance to ask this woman what was going on.

What I am certain of is that she violated the law. What I am certain of is that that officer had every reason to think that he was under very serious threat for injury, or in fact, his life. What is I’m certain of that she accelerated in a way where she ran into the guy. I don’t know what was in her heart and what was in her head, but I know that she violated the law, and I know that officer was acting in self-defense.

That’s raises an interesting point, though. Look, if people want to say that we should have a legitimate debate about, you know, what was she really doing, right? Was she panicking when she drove into this officer, or was she actually trying to ram him? That’s a — that’s a reasonable conversation.

What’s not reasonable 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, which is what many of you have said explicitly, and some of you have said implicitly. That’s what I have an objection to. The idea that this was not justified is absurd and I think everybody knows it in their heart.

AFP’s @DannyCTKemp: “Mr. Vice President, you presumably watched the video yourself. There’s not the slightest doubt in your mind, having viewed it, that this the victim — you still believe that she deliberately tried to ram him despite despite seeing this video?”@VP @JDVance:… pic.twitter.com/rnHyZW6U4t

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 8, 2026

Vance Concludes With Harsh Words

Do your job, media:

And again, thank you all for — for listening. Thanks for taking questions. And I just ask you, look, this is politics and often Republicans and you know, get — get in — get in arguments with the press about things. And I understand that.

I think it’s really irresponsible for you guys to go out there and imply or tell the American people that a guy who defended himself from being rammed by an automobile is guilty of murder, be a little bit more careful.

We want to talk about toning down the temperature, which I know the President wants to do, and I certainly want to do. One of the ways we tone down the temperature is to have a media that tells the truth. I encourage you all to do that.

God bless you. [REPORTERS SHOUTING] Happy New Year, guys!

Vice President JD Vance was not mincing words in ending the White House press briefing by again ripping the press for their Minneapolis coverage…

“And again, thank you all for — for listening. Thanks for taking questions. And I just ask you, look, this is politics and often… pic.twitter.com/X8Rm5TDUuD

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 8, 2026

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.