U.S. Vice President JD Vance speak to reporters in the briefing room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 8, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Vice President JD Vance drew criticism from reporters and analysts for his efforts to absolve the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who shot and killed a Minneapolis woman on Wednesday.
Among Vance's justifications for his actions was that the ICE agent was engaged in another incident where he was "dragged" by a car and had 36 stitches and hurt his leg. The incident happened in June 2025.
"Would you think he's a little sensitive?" Vance said.
He also painted 37 year-old mother Renee Nicole Good as part of a "left-wing network" who was "radicalized" to commit an act of "domestic terrorism."
Vance closed the press briefing by attacking the media, saying they were "irresponsible" for saying an ICE agent murdered Good.
"God bless," he said before walking out.
"I won’t post video of anything JD Vance is saying because it is all political propaganda that is blatantly dishonest and meant to rile up more people to be violent. It’s irresponsible and not real leadership," said Amee Vanderpool, legal analyst and author of the SHERO newsletter.
Constitutional scholar Robert Black pointed out, "So, look, among other things: if 'he's already been wounded in operations before' is at all relevant to the calculus here, it means that officers who are wounded can't be allowed back into the field again, because they're too dangerous."
Georgia law school professor Anthony Michael Kreis responded to a CNN chyron that read Vance declared the ICE agent was "protected by absolute immunity."
"This is not the law," said Kreis.
"In Vance’s defense he learned the law at Yale," needled Lawfare's Eric Columbus.
"The sheer primal rage I feel toward this guy and his supporters right now. I want nothing to do with these people ever again," confessed legal commentator Benjamin Kabak.
CNN's Kaitlan Collins pointed out that Vance attacked "CNN for an accurate and straightforward headline about what's happening in Minneapolis." The headline he protested read, "Outrage is mounting after Renee Good was killed by ICE in Minneapolis. Here's the latest." Fellow host Dana Bash retweeted the comment.
"Pod Save America" co-host Jon Favreau highlighted Vance's comments excusing the ICE agent.
"The Vice President believes the ICE agent who shot an unarmed American in the head three times deserves a 'debt of gratitude,'" Favreau wrote.
The Bulwark's Andrew Egger commented, "JD Vance just now, while calling Renee Good a terrorist: 'You have a woman who aimed her car at a law enforcement officer and pressed on the accelerator. Nobody debates that.' In fact, many people debate this, since it's false. Good did not 'aim' her car at the officer. He was in front of it because he walked there, and she was turning *away* from him as he shot her."
He later added, "Remarkable that under the *tiniest amount* of pushback Vance retreats to 'I don't know what's in a person's heart or in a person's head' about whether Good actually *intended* to hit the officer who killed her with her car. So 'aimed' is out the window."
"The investigation in the Minnesota ICE shooting is still ongoing, but per Vice President Vance's press conference just now it's clear the administration has already rendered a verdict," said CBS News political correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns.
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