Trump gives garbled word salad when asked why ICE agent not arrested: 'What knows means'
The ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in Minnesota is apparently protected from the law, President Donald Trump's administration has suggested. Trump, however, seems to have no idea what that means.
When asked Sunday after Vice President JD Vance's comment that the agent could not be prosecuted, Trump rattled out a nonsensical word salad that left reporters on Air Force One baffled, the Daily Beast reported.
Good, a 37-year-old Minnesota mother of three, was shot in the face by an ICE agent on Wednesday while attempting to drive away from an ICE protest. Vance responded by incorrectly claiming ICE officers enjoy "absolute immunity."
When a reporter asked what that meant, Trump responded: "Everyone's seen it. A woman who's very violent. She's a, you know, very radical person. Very sad what happened. Her friend was very radical."
When pressed again to define absolute immunity, Trump offered an even more garbled answer: "Well, I'm going to let the people define it. But immunity, you know what immunity, what knows means as well as I do."
Bodycam footage reveals that Good sat calmly behind the steering wheel, telling the ICE agent who would shoot her minutes later: "That's fine, dude, I'm not mad at you." ICE agents surrounded her SUV while Good's wife, Rebecca, filmed from outside. When ordered to exit her vehicle, Good attempted to drive away. An officer fired three shots into her head, shouting a vile slur as the vehicle traveled several feet before crashing into parked cars.
Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claim Good was attempting to run over agents. Noem accused her of "domestic terrorism."
Video evidence demonstrated Good's tires were turned away from the officer.
Vice President JD Vance, a Yale Law School graduate, said the officer was "doing his job" and therefore protected by federal immunity. Legal experts have rejected this claim, noting that the Supreme Court granted absolute immunity only to the president for official acts, but that does not extend to other federal officials.
When asked whether deadly force was necessary, Trump deflected: "It was highly disrespectful of law enforcement. The woman and her friend were highly disrespectful of law enforcement. You saw that they were harassing them, were following for days and for hours. And I think frankly they're professional agitators."
This statement contrasts with Trump's pardon of over 1,500 defendants who attacked police officers during the January 6 Capitol riots.
According to Good's ex-husband, the couple had just dropped off their 6-year-old son at school when they encountered protesters disrupting an ICE raid and decided to stop and observe.
When the reporter attempted to ask whether disrespect justified killing a U.S. citizen, Trump interrupted: "I'd like to find out—and we are going to find out—who's paying for it."
The administration has repeatedly claimed that protesters are funded by mysterious radical organizations, despite the FBI's apparent inability to identify these groups.
Good's death has prompted nationwide protests, with thousands gathering at hundreds of anti-ICE rallies across the country.