“For What?” JD Vance Refuses to Apologize for Alex Pretti Comments

When asked if he wanted to apologize to the family of slain Minnesota protester Alex Pretti, Vice President JD Vance replied, “For what?”

Vance sat down with an interview with The Daily Mail in which he continued to cast federal agents as the real victims of Operation Metro Surge while offering virtually no sympathy for a U.S. citizen who was shot dead in the street by his own government.

“Have you apologized, did you plan to apologize to the family of Alex Pretti?” The Daily Mail’s Philip Nieto asked Vance.

“For what?”

“For, you know, labeling him an assassin with ill intent.”

The day Pretti was killed, Vance shared a post on X from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller which read, “An assassin tried to murder federal agents and this is your response,” referring to calls for ICE to leave Minneapolis after killing Pretti. Calling Pretti—who was disarmed and then shot—an “assassin”is beyond slanderous, and just one of many false right-wing narratives that emerged in the aftermath.

“I just described to you what I said about Alex Pretti, which is that he’s a guy who showed up with ill intent to an ICE protest,” Vance continued.

“But if it’s determined that his civil rights were violated by this FBI investigation, will you apologize?”

“So if this hypothetical leads to that hypothetical leads to another hypothetical—”

“It’s a real case that’s open,” Nieto responded.

“Like I said, we’re gonna let the investigation determine … I don’t think it’s smart to prejudge the investigation, I don’t think it’s fair to those ICE officers.” Pretti was killed by Border Patrol, a mistake that only reaffirms Vance’s indifference towards the event.

Vance couldn’t care less about Pretti’s killing. He, Miller, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and many on the right smeared Pretti immediately after he was killed, calling him some trained domestic terrorist looking to assassinate ICE agents. But now, when the entire country can see that an act of brutal injustice has occurred, the vice president wants everyone to wait and see.