LEILA FADEL, HOST:
There's a new wave of protests in Minneapolis and anger across swaths of the country after the killing of yet another U.S. citizen by federal agents. The killing of Alex Pretti, a VA intensive care unit nurse was also filmed. In the videos verified by NPR, federal agents pinned him to the ground, beat him, sprayed him in the face with a chemical agent and then shot him multiple times.
The political reaction has been swift and predictable during the second Trump presidency. NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro joins us now. Domenico, welcome.
DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE: Hey, there.
FADEL: So taking a step back here, politically, how are Americans viewing Trump's immigration policies?
MONTANARO: Yeah. I mean, I think we could be in the midst of something of a turning point, at least with how people, who've been growing increasingly uneasy with the Trump administration's response to deportations, respond. I mean, many had already been saying that while they agree with the end goal of having fewer immigrants in the country without legal status, they disagree with how the administration has been going about trying to accomplish that.
A political poll earlier this month, for example, conducted after the Renee Macklin Good shooting in Minneapolis found that 60% said that the federal government should prioritize deporting immigrants who have committed serious crimes or that the administration should only deport people who have committed serious crimes. Half or more in polls have been saying that the Macklin Good shooting was unjustified and that the Trump administration is going too far or acting too harshly.
FADEL: And that's even before what we saw this weekend.
MONTANARO: Yes.
FADEL: How is the administration responding to this political moment?
MONTANARO: Yeah. I mean, the White House seems to see this as a problem of optics. You know, Trump, we know, is very attuned to the optics and believes that immigration should be a key strength of his. He said he thinks it's why he was elected, even though the cost of living was the bigger reason, according to the polls. But the administration's maintaining a hard line, is trying to, you know, change the subject from ICE's conduct to blaming protesters for impeding law enforcement.
White House senior adviser Stephen Miller went so far as to call Pretti a, quote, "would-be assassin." Videos circulating do not back that up at all. But even when confronted with the video that shows Pretti holding a cellphone and having been disarmed and on the ground with his back to officers when he was shot, Deputy Attorney General and former personal lawyer of Trump Todd Blanche claimed on NBC's "Meet The Press" yesterday that you can't really tell from the video what's happening.
FADEL: What about Trump himself?
MONTANARO: Well, the president in a statement called the deaths, quote, "tragedies" but blamed local Democratic officials for not coordinating more strongly on immigration enforcement efforts. But if you step back, Trump seems to realize the politics here. I thought it was really interesting last week that you could hear the president clumsily trying to distance himself from these harsh tactics. This was Trump at a press conference on the heels of Renee Macklin Good's death.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: They're going to make mistakes, sometimes. ICE is going to be too rough with somebody or - you know, they're dealing with rough people.
MONTANARO: Yeah. And Trump said he felt horribly about what happened, but listen to why.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TRUMP: When I learned her parents and her father, in particular, is, like, was a - I hope he still is, but I don't know - was a tremendous Trump fan. He was all for Trump. He loved Trump. And, you know, it's terrible.
MONTANARO: I mean, that was really striking to me because campaigns are campaigns, but being president is supposed to be different. You know, it's supposed...
FADEL: Right.
MONTANARO: ...To be about all Americans, no matter who they voted for. But time and again, Trump has shown what he cares about most are the people who voted for him and the people who facilitate what he wants. And we know that the midterm elections are coming up here, and we know that Republicans, especially moderate ones, are on their heels when it comes to these immigration policies.
FADEL: That's NPR's Domenico Montanaro. Thank you, Domenico.
MONTANARO: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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