White House press secretary brands Irish journalist "left-wing hack" in furious rant

The Trump administration has been under international scrutiny following the immigration agency’s killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis, after she was shot three times by an ICE agent.

Ms Good, a 37-year-old US citizen, was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, who has been staunchly defended by the Trump administration — with President Donald Trump falsely claiming that Ms Good "ran him over" while Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem called her a "domestic terrorist".

During a press briefing on Thursday, Belfast-born journalist with The Hill, Niall Stanage, asked about Trump’s defence of ICE, pointing out that aside from the killing of Ms Good, 32 people died in ICE custody last year, while 170 US citizens were detained by ICE.

Asking Ms [Karoline] Leavitt if that equates to ICE "doing everything correctly," Ms Leavitt was then asked for her opinion as to why, in her words, Ms Good was "unfortunately and tragically killed," with Mr Stanage responding: "Because an ICE agent acted recklessly and killed her unjustifiably."

Ms Leavitt then went on a tirade against the journalist, saying: "OK, so you’re a biased reporter with a left-wing opinion… Because you’re a left-wing hack. You’re not a reporter, posing in this room as a journalist. And it’s so clear by the premise of your question. And you and the people of the media who have such biases but fake like you’re a journalist, you shouldn’t even be sitting in that seat.

"You’re pretending like you’re a journalist, but you’re a left-wing activist. And the question that you just raised and your answer prove you’re biased. You should be reporting on the facts. You should be reporting on the cases," she continued, before deflecting on notable incidents involving illegal immigrants killing US citizens, namely Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray.

"All of the innocent Americans who were killed at the hands of illegal aliens in this country and the brave men and women of ICE are doing everything in their power to remove those heinous individuals and make our communities safer," Ms Leavitt continued.

"And shame on people like you in the media who have a crooked view and have a biased view and pretend like you’re a real, honest journalist."

Ms Good, a mother of three, was shot in the head during an enforcement raid that was being carried out by ICE, sparking protests in the area and international condemnation.

In an interview with the New York Times, Mr Trump claimed that Ms Good tried to run Ross over and that he shot her in self-defence, while Vice President JD Vance wrote on Twitter (X) that Ross was "defending his life against a deranged leftist who tried to run him over."

A video reconstruction of the incident appears to show that Ms Good was not trying to run over Ross, but was rather fleeing the enforcement raid, with her killing sparking protests throughout the state of Minnesota.

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.