Karoline Leavitt Blasts Reporter as a ‘Left-Wing Hack’ in Live Press Briefing over ICE Question

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clashed with a reporter during Thursday’s Jan. 15 press briefing after he asked about deaths in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent.

During the live-streamed briefing, the reporter said that 32 people died in ICE custody last year and claimed 170 U.S. citizens had been detained by the agency.

The journalist — identified by Irish public service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Eireann as Irish reporter Niall Stanage, who works for The Hill — then pointed to remarks from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who had said the agency had been “doing everything correctly” in the aftermath of Good’s death.

“How does that equate to them doing everything correctly?” Stanage asked.

Leavitt responded by turning the question back on him: “Why was Renee Good unfortunately and tragically killed?” Stanage asked whether she wanted his opinion, and Leavitt confirmed she did.

“Because an ICE agent acted recklessly and killed her unjustifiably,” the reporter replied.

Leavitt shot back, “OK, so you’re a biased reporter with a left-wing opinion … Because you’re a left-wing hack.”

“You’re not a reporter, you’re posing in this room as a journalist,” she continued, adding that the “premise” of his question revealed bias. Leavitt argued that the media should focus on “the facts” and referenced cases in which U.S. citizens were killed by “illegal” immigrants. She said she doubted the reporter had “read up on those stories,” citing victims including Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray.

The White House did not immediately respond when contacted for additional comment.

What the reporter asked about: the Renee Good shooting

Renee Good, 37, was killed in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 7, after an encounter involving federal immigration agents, according to the account included in the article.

The mother of three had dropped her 6-year-old child off at school earlier that morning and was driving home in a Honda Pilot with her wife, Becca Good, when they encountered a group of ICE agents, her ex-husband told The Associated Press. He said the couple had moved to Minneapolis last year from Kansas City, Mo., and asked not to be identified.

The account says the pair took a detour to join neighbors protesting ICE officers during an immigration enforcement operation in the city. Good’s vehicle was allegedly blocking agents in the street, and when she began moving the car as an ICE officer pulled on her door handle, she was shot and killed. The agent was identified in the article as Jonathan Ross.

Trump references Insurrection Act amid Minneapolis tensions

The article also says President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act as tensions rose between ICE officers and civilians in Minneapolis following Good’s death.

In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump criticized Minnesota’s Democratic leadership and suggested invoking the act would allow him to send the U.S. military to the state to respond to unrest. “If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT…,” Trump wrote.

The post came a day after another incident in Minneapolis in which, according to the article, a man was shot in the leg by an ICE agent on Wednesday, Jan. 14.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey condemned the presence of ICE in the state, the article reports. Walz urged residents not to escalate confrontations and later posted a statement on X calling on Trump to “turn the temperature down” and “stop this campaign of retribution.”

Frey also addressed the situation after the Wednesday shooting, saying during an evening news conference that the city was being put in an “impossible situation.” He said residents were asking a limited number of local police officers to confront ICE agents and warned against a scenario in which two government entities are “literally fighting one another.”