Kristi Noem responded to calls for her to resign by claiming she was being targeted by ‘radicals’ after federal agents fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Noem spoke to Fox News hours after sitting through a Trump Cabinet meeting in silence as the president reorganized his strategy of getting criminals off the streets in America’s largest cities.
‘These radicals are attacking me, but I’m just doing my job,’ Noem said. ‘I’m following the law, enforcing the laws like President Trump promised that he would do to keep people safe in this country.’
Trump has called Republican Senators Thom Tills and Lisa Murkowski ‘losers’ for telling Noem to step down.
However, a Daily Mail/JL Partners poll taken this week showed Noem suffering from a dreadful 33 percent approval rating.
Noem did speak out on the new footage of Pretti antagonizing ICE agents in Minneapolis just 11 days before he was fatally shot by Border Patrol officers.
‘Clearly, there’s a history there of attacking our law enforcement officers and our CBP and ICE officers,’ Noem said. ‘That’s an example of what our officers have had to face every single day in Minneapolis and in Minnesota.’
Noem, however, did suggest there should be an investigation into the shooting death of the 37-year-old nurse.
Kristi Noem responded to calls for her resignation by claiming she was being targeted by ‘radicals’ after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis
Noem (pictured far right) spoke to Fox News hours after sitting in silence through a Trump Cabinet meeting as the president reorganized his strategy on getting criminals off the street in the country’s largest cities
‘We believe that we can always do better, and we seek to do that every single day,’ Noem said.
‘And we want to make sure that we not only improve protocols on the ground in chaotic and volatile situations like this, but that we continue to find the truth around this situation.’
Noem also praised President Trump’s move to bring Tom Homan on board, saying he hopes the border czar can get through to liberal leaders in the state.
‘I’m grateful that the president had the wisdom to send Tom Homan there to have conversations again to see if he can get the leaders of Governor Walz and Mayor Frey to commit to honoring our detainers and to keeping our officers safe while they do their work.’
Meanwhile, Greg Bovino told ICE agents that he was ‘very proud’ of their law enforcement actions in Minneapolis during a video message taped from Mount Rushmore, about 600 miles west of Minneapolis.
The commander at large celebrated the agency’s hardcore ‘turn and burn’ tactics during President Trump’s second term following his departure from the city after the shooting of Alex Pretti.
‘I’m very proud of what you, the Mean Green Machine, are doing in Minneapolis right now, just like you’ve done it across the United States over these tough past nine months,’ Bovino said.
‘I want you to know you are the modern day equivalent of turn and burn.’
His ‘turn and burn’ strategy consisted of an influx of federal agents descending on a city and making mass arrests before departing.
Meanwhile, Border Patrol Commander at Large Greg Bovino broke his silence after leaving Minneapolis on Tuesday, with many seeing it as a demotion
The heat on Noem comes after Trump made a clear adjustment in policy toward his immigration crackdown in Minneapolis following the fatal shootings and wild protests from liberals.
Trump announced early Monday that Homan was headed to Minneapolis and ‘will report directly’ to him.
Later, multiple reports said that Bovino was leaving the city and had been locked out of his government social media accounts.
A Border Patrol veteran of 30 years, Bovino was selected last year from his role as chief patrol agent of the agency’s El Centro sector in Southern California to lead highly publicized immigration crackdowns across the country.
Bovino’s leadership of highly visible federal crackdowns, including operations that sparked mass demonstrations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte and Minneapolis, has drawn fierce criticism from local officials, civil rights advocates and congressional Democrats.
Bovino is a loyalist to Noem and top aide Corey Lewandowski. Both have quietly pushed Bovino as a potential replacement for current Border Patrol chief Rodney Scott, a longtime ally of Homan.
Noem has sought to sideline Scott by having Bovino report directly to her, an unprecedented move within the agency.
Noem also praised President Trump’s move to bring Tom Homan on board, saying he hopes the border czar can get through to liberal leaders in the state
Noem also speak out on the new footage of Alex Pretti antagonizing ICE agents in Minneapolis just 11 days before he was fatally shot by Border Patrol officers
Bovino’s removal from Minneapolis underscores Noem’s fading standing with the White House as Trump dispatches Homan and his closest allies to seize control of the operation on the ground.
Homan and Noem have been locked in a power struggle inside Trump’s second-term immigration apparatus, with Homan pushing aggressive, enforcement-first mass deportations while viewing Noem as slow and overly political, sources close to Homan have told The Daily Mail.
Homan, along with his right-hand man Lyons, are understood to be at odds with Noem over her approach to tackling the illegal immigration crisis.
He and Lyons want to pour their resources into tracking down convicted criminals who are living in the United States illegally, as well as people who have already been served final deportation orders.
Their targeted approach to removing the worst of the worst has frustrated Noem, along with Lewandowski and Bovino, according to Fox News.
Noem has instead advocated for a broader and more aggressive approach in an effort to boost the number of reportable deportations each day.
She has made a point to share statistics of successful deportations amid pressure from Trump to rid America of as many as 1,500 illegal immigrants per day.
The rivalry has hardened as rank-and-file ICE agents and DHS officials increasingly align with Homan’s hardline leadership style over Noem’s public-facing approach at DHS.
Donald Trump said Republicans calling for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s ouster are ‘losers’
Noem has spent much of the week under fire in response to the shooting of Pretti, with over 140 Democrats on Capitol Hill co-sponsoring an impeachment against her.
The impeachment bill alleges that Noem has been self-dealing, obstructed Congress and violated public trust.
A spokesperson for DHS told Axios that the efforts were ‘silly’ and Democrats should focus on fixing crime problems in their districts.
The minority party will also launch an investigation into Noem’s work at DHS without any assistance from Republicans, The Washington Post reported.
The latest Daily Mail/JL Partners poll, taken on Monday, finds that Noem has a paltry 33 percent approval rating.
Her disapproval rating has risen dramatically to 41 percent compared to 37 percent in December, per the last Daily Mail/ JL Partners survey.
Noem measured a 37 percent approval last month, meaning her support has fallen following the shooting of two anti-ICE protesters in Minneapolis.
Spelling even more bad news for the secretary are the number of voters who say she should be removed from her post.
Nearly half of survey respondents, 46 percent, believe that Noem should be impeached.
Further, 42 percent say President Donald Trump should fire her. The poll was conducted on January 26 and included over 1,000 registered voters. The margin of error is 3.1 percent.
