Cruz joins growing chorus of Republicans telling White House to change its tone as public sours on Trump’s handling of interior enforcement.
By Joseph Morton
Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
Adam Gray / AP
WASHINGTON – Sen. Ted Cruz has urged the Trump administration to strike a more measured tone after fatal shootings by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, saying tough talk risks alienating key swing voters.
After Renee Good was shot and killed in her vehicle, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem suggested Good was trying to run down Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in an “act of domestic terrorism.”
Cruz, in his podcast Monday, defended the agent’s actions, saying Good drove her car into him, and “that is a justifiable use of lethal force.”
He also said officials should be cautious about casting those killed as terrorists and he said he supports an investigation into the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse in Minneapolis.
“Immediately when an incident like this happens, they come out guns blazing that we took out a violent terrorist, hooray,” Cruz said.
“And the problem is, particularly for someone not paying attention, if you’re being told this is a mom of three, and there’s no indication, you know, she’s not waving an ISIS flag or doesn’t have a suicide vest around her, escalating the rhetoric doesn’t help and it actually loses credibility,” he said.
After Pretti’s shooting, some Republicans blamed him for carrying a gun while protesting immigration enforcement operations. He had a Minnesota permit to carry a firearm.
Trump adviser Stephen Miller described Pretti as an “assassin” trying to murder federal agents.
Some Second Amendment rights advocates, generally supportive of President Donald Trump, have said exercising a constitutional right to carry doesn’t automatically give law enforcement cause to shoot someone.
Cruz, a Republican, said on his podcast there was “confusion” about what happened with Pretti and “there needs to be an investigation.”
Calls for review
Cruz joins other Republicans urging Trump to reset the administration’s public messaging about ICE operations as grisly videos of the shootings have contributed to a public souring on his handling of immigration.
Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday the White House needs to “recalibrate” ICE’s ’s mission to rebuild public trust after Pretti’s shooting.
Abbott said immigration authorities should “get back to what they wanted to do to begin with” and focus on removing “people from the country who are here illegally.”
Trump has described productive conversations with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and the Minneapolis mayor. He’s sending border czar Tom Homan to take charge and potentially draw down the number of agents deployed to the city.
Cruz said “everyone who has anything resembling a conscience is horrified by what’s happening in Minneapolis” and called on Democrats and Republicans to “just ratchet things down” in their rhetoric, including on social media.
“On one side, they view every shooting as an absolute tragedy, as evidence that America has become Nazi Germany,” Cruz said. “On the other side, you see some people that seem pretty eager to celebrate a violent and lethal confrontation with law enforcement.”
Suburban backlash
Cruz warned that aggressive rhetoric could further push away suburban voters, particularly women, who helped Democrats flip Senate seats in swing states such as Arizona and Georgia.
While calling for toned-down rhetoric, Cruz praised the administration’s success in securing the border, emphasized that he remains firmly opposed to illegal immigration and criticized protesters who carry firearms to demonstrations.
“You should not get in a violent confrontation with police officers,” Cruz said. “But if you are entering an environment where you see that as a reasonable possibility, if you have an IQ that breaks room temperature, any firearm you have, leave it at home.”
He also said he expects a partial government shutdown later this week after Democrats have said they won’t back a Homeland Security spending bill, which includes ICE, without new restrictions on enforcement operations.
Cruz predicted “100%” that such a partial shutdown is coming.
“They want to be able to tell their base, we are defunding ICE, we are abolishing ICE, we are against law enforcement. We’re with the criminals,” Cruz said of Democrats. “That’s their message.”
Democrats have pushed back sharply, with many calling for independent investigations into the shootings, demanding reforms to federal immigration enforcement and vowing to block future Homeland Security funding that includes ICE unless changes are made.
Joseph Morton covers the intersection of business and politics in the Washington Bureau. Before joining The News, Joseph worked for CQ Roll Call and the Omaha World-Herald. He graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
