Kristi Noem Caught in Embarrassing Double Standard Over ICE Shooting

CNN’s Jake Tapper torpedoed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s flimsy defense of the ICE agent who killed Renee Good. 

During an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday, Noem could only proffer a mealy-mouthed response after being bombarded by footage of rioters violently attacking law enforcement officers at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Donald Trump had claimed earlier Sunday that the use of deadly force was justified because Good was “disrespectful” of law enforcement.

“Would any of those officers have been justified in shooting and killing the people causing them physical harm?” Tapper pressed, referring to the January 6 footage.

“Every single situation is going to, um, rely on the situation those officers are on,” Noem replied. “That they know that when people are putting hands on them, when they are using weapons against them, when they are physically harming them, that they have the authority to arrest those individuals.”

Tapper pointed out that Trump had pardoned every single one of those rioters. 

“And every single one of these investigations comes in the full context of the situation on the ground,” Noem said. “That’s one thing that President Trump has been so focused on. Is making sure that when we’re out there, we don’t pick and choose which situations are, and which laws are enforced, and which ones aren’t.”

The exasperated host then had to point out that the footage he’d just shown proved the opposite. 

“I just showed you video of people attacking law enforcement officers, undisputed proof, undisputed evidence, and I just said President Trump pardoned all of them. And you just said, ‘President Trump is enforcing all the laws equally.’ It’s just not true,” Tapper said. “There’s a different standard for law enforcement officials being attacked if they’re being attacked by Trump supporters. We just saw that.”

Noem could only offer up word salad. “This individual, and these instances, and these investigations all have to be taken, and done, and done correctly in context of every situation that is happening on the ground,” she said. 

It’s genuinely difficult to believe she was picked for this job because someone thought she would be good on TV. 

Noem claimed that immigration officers were focused on ensuring that they were “targeting the worst of the worst, and that we’re talking factually about each situation, and making sure that we’re bringing those perpetrators of violence back to justice.”

Of course, the killing of Renee Good demonstrates that they’re doing the exact opposite.

Good was not the “worst of the worst,” but a mother of three  who Noem leapt to claim was a so-called “domestic terrorist.” The only person “perpetrated” violence was Jonathan Ross, the trigger-happy ICE agent who shot a U.S. civilian three times, but there is no evidence he will face any consequences for his actions.