By Bo Erickson and Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) – Less than 24 hours after a federal immigration agent shot a 37-year-old mother in Minnesota, U.S. Vice President JD Vance stood up for the officer involved, blamed the woman who was killed, and said the incident should be a political test ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
At the White House on Thursday, Vance called the death a “tragedy” but spoke in defense of the agent, who was among 2,000 federal officers sent by the Trump administration to the Minneapolis area this week. The vice president also used social media to question Democratic politicians’ willingness to support law enforcement, a clear partisan shot from a man widely seen as a potential presidential contender in two years.
The shooting on Wednesday was recorded in several videos posted online, drawing heated and mixed commentary – often along partisan lines – on how a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent responded to the actions of the driver who was killed.
Early on, U.S. President Donald Trump also posted his support of the federal agent and blamed the driver, but in a sudden move, the White House announced that Vance on Thursday would field reporters’ questions.
“Attack me, attack the president of the United States. Don’t attack our law enforcement officers,” Vance said.
The deceased was identified as Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen.
After watching the videos, Vance solely blamed the driver.
“What I am certain of is that she violated the law,” Vance said when asked by a reporter about doubts in his analysis, “What I’m certain of is that the officer had every reason to think that he was under very serious threat for injury or, in fact, his life.”
VANCE PUSHES POLITICS
Vance also took a partisan angle on the shooting ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
In a Thursday X post, he wrote that “media” should ask “every congressional democrat and every democrat who’s running for president” whether they believe the ICE agent “was wrong in defending his life against a deranged leftist who tried to run him over?”
The social media post recalls his political playbook for the 2024 election. During the campaign, Vance repeatedly criticized Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, for not supporting law enforcement during the Minneapolis riots in 2020 after a police officer murdered George Floyd.
Walz described Wednesday’s shooting of Good as a “brazen use of force” and told reporters on Thursday, “It feels very, very difficult that we will get a fair outcome” with the investigation because Trump, Vance, and other administration officials “passed judgment and told you things that are verifiably false.”
Vance also repeatedly hit Walz on the recent welfare fraud investigations in Minnesota. But the vice president’s full-throated defense of ICE before the investigation could risk alienating voters outside of Trump’s core base.
Some polls indicate Trump’s overall approval rating on immigration policy has fallen since he launched the crackdowns in several major U.S. cities.
VANCE SUPPORTS VENEZUELA OPERATION
While Vance took a prominent public role on Thursday in defending the actions of ICE agents, he did not appear in person over the weekend as the Trump administration touted the Venezuela raid that captured President Nicolás Maduro.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has previously said Vance was “deeply involved” in the operation, dismissing reports that he was sidelined.
On Thursday, Vance pushed back against assertions that he was excluded from the Venezuela operation’s planning, saying the effort was limited to a small group of top officials to keep it secret. He said he would take on “whatever the president asks me to do” and said he already chairs the White House principals’ meetings on Venezuela, focusing on next steps to promote stability.
Vance’s low profile on Maduro’s capture has highlighted his long‑held stance as a critic of expansive U.S. military intervention, particularly when there are no clear objectives or broad public support. But a White House official said on Wednesday the vice president has defended the administration’s actions and articulated a policy rationale for U.S. involvement in the country.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Bo Erickson in Washington, additional reporting by Jonathan Allen, editing by Sergio Non, Rod Nickel)
