White House Wobbles, Distancing Trump From Initial Response to Minnesota Killing
Faced with broad outcry over the killing of a protester on Saturday in Minneapolis, the White House on Monday pulled a top border official from Minneapolis and tried to distance President Trump from the response of his most senior officials, who had immediately characterized the man fatally shot by federal agents as a “domestic terrorist” who was “brandishing” a gun, before video evidence undercut their charges.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, notably did not defend the rhetoric of White House officials, including Stephen Miller, the deputy chief of staff, and Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, who were the most vocal in spreading false accusations against the victim, Alex Pretti. Mr. Pretti was shot roughly 10 times by immigration agents after he was apparently filming them with his camera.
White House officials clearly understood that the killing, the second of an American citizen protesting the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis, posed one of the gravest political threats to Mr. Trump since his inauguration just a little over a year ago. Yet they seemed frozen in place, unwilling to walk back the statements by Mr. Miller and Ms. Noem, which were widely repeated throughout the administration, while sending Ms. Leavitt out to insist that “we will let the facts lead and we will let the facts play out in this investigation.”
They provided no evidence to back up the statements by the two officials, who have become the face of Mr. Trump’s efforts to deport undocumented immigrants. And while Ms. Leavitt would not contradict the two officials, she insisted to reporters that “nobody in the White House, including President Trump, wants to see people getting hurt or killed in America’s streets.”
She also declined to defend the attacks on Mr. Pretti.
“This has obviously been a very fluid and fast-moving situation throughout the weekend,” Ms. Leavitt said. “As for President Trump, whom I speak for, he has said that he wants to let the investigation continue and let the facts lead in this case.”
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, notably did not defend the rhetoric of White House officials, including Stephen Miller, the deputy chief of staff, and Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, who were the most vocal in spreading false accusations against the victim, Alex Pretti. Mr. Pretti was shot roughly 10 times by immigration agents after he was apparently filming them with his camera.
White House officials clearly understood that the killing, the second of an American citizen protesting the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis, posed one of the gravest political threats to Mr. Trump since his inauguration just a little over a year ago. Yet they seemed frozen in place, unwilling to walk back the statements by Mr. Miller and Ms. Noem, which were widely repeated throughout the administration, while sending Ms. Leavitt out to insist that “we will let the facts lead and we will let the facts play out in this investigation.”
They provided no evidence to back up the statements by the two officials, who have become the face of Mr. Trump’s efforts to deport undocumented immigrants. And while Ms. Leavitt would not contradict the two officials, she insisted to reporters that “nobody in the White House, including President Trump, wants to see people getting hurt or killed in America’s streets.”
She also declined to defend the attacks on Mr. Pretti.
“This has obviously been a very fluid and fast-moving situation throughout the weekend,” Ms. Leavitt said. “As for President Trump, whom I speak for, he has said that he wants to let the investigation continue and let the facts lead in this case.”
