President Donald Trump has delivered a conflicted message to the family of a woman shot dead by ICE after it was revealed that her father was a MAGA supporter.
Trump struck a solemn tone as he was asked about the shooting during an interview by CBS’ News Tony Dokoupil at a Ford plant in Detroit on Tuesday.
Renee Good, 37, was shot dead when she drove at an ICE agent after obstructing a road during a protest against Trump’s migrant crackdown in Minneapolis last week.
‘Her father, who was a big supporter of yours, he’s heartbroken right now,’ Dokoupil told the president, revealing that Good’s father, Timothy Ganger, backed Trump.
‘He’s also heartbroken because your administration so quickly has come out and said she’s a domestic terrorist,’ the CBS host said. ‘What do you want to say to her father right now?’
Trump replied: ‘That’s great. And I do, I think it’s great, and I would bet you that she, under normal circumstances, was a very solid, wonderful person, but you know her actions were pretty tough.’
The president said he had reviewed various angles of the footage, adding that ‘when you look at the way that car was pulled away, there are a couple of versions of that tape that are very, very bad.’
Trump suggested that the tragedy could have been avoided entirely had President Joe Biden not allowed so many illegal immigrants to flood the US border.
The president said: ‘The bottom line is we have hundreds of thousands of murderers in our country, killers. ICE is trying to get them out. They were let in through an open border policy of Sleepy Joe Biden. ICE is working very hard to get them out, their job is being made very, very difficult.’
Trump echoed the Department of Justice which said on Tuesday that there is currently no basis to open a criminal civil rights investigation into the Good’s shooting.
While an FBI probe is ongoing, lawyers in the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division were informed last week that they would not contribute to the investigation at this time, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Trump and Dokoupil clashed elsewhere in the interview as the president was grilled on the economy, Iran and the administration’s attacks on Fed chair Jerome Powell.
The host and the president, at times, spoke over each other, and Dokoupil pressed the president on Americans who feel prices remain too elevated.
‘Mr. President, help me understand when I travel the country, and I go all over the place, and I talk to everyday Americans, they tell me they don’t feel it,’ the CBS host pressed.
Trump snapped back: ‘I inherited a mess of crime, I inherited a mess of inflation, I inherited a mess of places closing up and going to other countries.’
Trump told the CBS News anchor ‘you wouldn’t have this job’ if the Democrats had won the last election.
Dokoupil replied that he believes he’d still have his job.
‘Yea but a lesser salary,’ Trump quickly quipped.
Trump also promised ‘very strong action’ against Iran if the regime goes ahead with hanging protesters, amid reports that some as young as 26 will be executed tomorrow.
The president previously warned Tehran that he would take military action if it harmed protesters. Since then, at least 2,000 demonstrators have been killed.
Some reports estimate as many as 12,000 have been killed.
The president was asked about the substantial death toll and reports that Iran has ordered hangings – and whether this would constitute the crossing of a ‘red line.’
‘I haven’t heard about their hangings,’ Trump told CBS. ‘We will take very strong action if they do such a thing.’
Dokoupil asked, ‘And this strong action – are we talking about – what’s the end game?’
Trump replied, ‘If they wanna have protests, that’s one thing. When they start killing thousands of people – now you’re telling me about hanging – we’ll see how that works out for them. It’s not gonna work out good.’
It comes as the first protester set to be executed was named today as Erfan Soltani.
The 26-year-old will be allowed a final ten minutes with his family before he is hanged on Wednesday morning for allegedly protesting against the regime last Thursday.
The president also weighed in on Fed chair Powell, who is currently the subject of a recently opened Department of Justice criminal investigation.
‘He’s been a lousy Fed chairman,’ Trump stated. ‘He’s been too high on interest rates … he should have reduced it by more.’
The DOJ probe revolves around Powell’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last year, during which he spoke about the expensive and slow remodel of the financial institution’s DC headquarters.
Critics claim that the Trump administration’s investigation into Powell is because the chairman has defied the president’s demands to lower interest rates.
Powell released a video address noting ‘this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration’s threats and ongoing pressure.’
The remodel is expected to be the most expensive building project in DC history, costing upwards of $2.5 billion.
Speaking to CBS News, Trump said he could have done it for 1 percent of that price.
‘I could have fixed them up with 25 million.’
