Noem says her response to Pretti shooting may have been wrong

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Politico

01/29/2026 10:59 PM EST


Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has conceded she may have gotten some information wrong in her initial response to Border Patrol’s killing of Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis ICU nurse she labeled a domestic terrorist.

Noem also dodged questions about her leadership of DHS amid widespread outrage, even among some Republicans, about the deaths of Pretti and Renee Good during an aggressive immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis.

Noem, who said Pretti committed an “act of domestic terrorism” against immigration agents despite videos showing otherwise, told Fox News on Thursday that the situation immediately following the killing was “very chaotic,” and the details she presented to reporters came from initial reports from Customs and Border Protection agents in Minneapolis.

“We were being relayed information from on the ground from CBP agents and officers that were there,” Noem said. “We were using the best information we had at the time.”

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/29/noem-pretti-shooting-00756830

[PJMcK]

1. Hey, Noem!

You were unquestionably wrong. Your shoot-from-the-hip responses demonstrate your lack of judgment, your lack of knowledge and your lack of humanity. Your entire behavior has been un-American.

Step aside, resign, sit down and shut up. You’ll never hold office again and you’ll be lucky to avoid criminal charges.

Asshat.

[travelingthrulife]

10. She better not avoid criminal charges. If she did they will be back doing the same thing.

They must be harshly punished.

[2naSalit]

2. Fucking liar!

Even here she lies! JHFC.

[Irish_Dem]

3. Aren't high level leaders supposed to keep a calm head in chaotic conditions?

[MLWR]

4. I'm sorry but she should be sued into oblivion for slander and wrongful death.

[travelingthrulife]

11. She should be jailed. If we do not punish these people they will be back doing it again.

Are those oaths they take completely meaningless?

[Javaman]

5. it's amusing and sad watching a psychopath trying to wrap their brains around empathy

she's trying to scrape the shit off her, but she's made of shit.

[mwooldri]

6. You don't say....

(is the sarcasm tag really necessary here?)

If that was her best information.... then at best it seems to me she lacks critical thinking skills. I'm sure someone would have shown her the video before she went out there labelling Alex Pretti a "domestic terrorist".

[travelingthrulife]

12. It is their normal routine to blame the victim, just like Daddy Trump does.

This is why they need to be punished with substantial prison time.

[ColoringFool]

7. Isn't There A Concete Pad She Can Be Taken To?

Asking for my friend Cricket.

[Botany]

8. Noem called the murdered AMERICAN CITIZEN a domestic terrorist in trying to cover up the crime.

Bald faced liar. “We were using the best information we had at the time.” She had access
to the videos and the federal agents’ body cameras videos.

Call it what it is Trump’s war on American people on “the streets of Minneapolis.

[Aussie105]

9. This is the standard story modification liars do.

You change the story until your audience finds it acceptable.
The very fluidity of the story line is the problem.

eg
Mom to 5 year old son: Did you touch the cookie jar?
Son: nope!

Mom: so those crumbs on your mouth, where did they come from?
Son: OK, I did take a cookie.

Mom: The jar is empty. How come?
Son: I might have had more than one.

You just change the story and watch your audience to see which version they find acceptable.

Not a good look Noem.
You are not a 5 year old trying to convince your mom.

[mitch96]

13. Ya can't put the toothpaste back in the tube...the cat's out of the bag...Tough...you said it, you own it..nt

[dlk]

14. Now that her lies are coming back to haunt her

Norm is changing her tune. If her lips are moving…

[E. Normus]

15. She knew

exactly what happened. Her knee jerk response was of course to lie. This is what her higher ups want her to do, as they also do as a matter of course. It's all coming down to something. Something that can only be redeemed by fire!

[Martin68]

16. Oops!

[Harker]

17. The best information I have at present is that she is a wholly unqualified, lying, bloodthirsty moron.

[Bengus81]

18. CYA time eh cosplay?? Won't work as you continue to dig a deeper hole.

[Bayard]

19. Trying to save her job

She has the same attitude about these two murder victims as she had for her dog and goat.

[Cirsium]

20. Liar

Such a liar.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

21. MaddowBlog-New national poll shows most Americans want Kristi Noem out at DHS

After federal agents killed Renee Good, polls showed a public backlash. After federal agents killed Alex Pretti, it got worse.

On Capitol Hill, a growing number of lawmakers — including a handful of Senate Republicans — want Kristi Noem to resign or be fired.

A new poll shows the American mainstream agrees. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-02-05T21:30:17.893Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/kristi-noem-dhs-popularity-national-poll

Almost immediately after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, the Trump administration wasted little time settling on a narrative that it expected Americans to believe: The victim, a 37-year-old mom, was the villain of the story.

The American mainstream didn’t buy it. A national Economist/YouGov poll, for example, found the vast majority of Americans are familiar with what transpired in Minneapolis, and by a 20-point margin, people saw the shooting as unjustified (50% vs. 30%). The same poll also found that a 47% plurality said ICE is making Americans less safe, while a 46% plurality said ICE should be abolished altogether.

Around the same time, a Quinnipiac University poll found that 57% of Americans disapproved of the way ICE was enforcing immigration laws, while 40% approved......

As bad as this looks for the president’s agenda, there’s yet another element of the results that stood out for me. From Quinnipiac’s review of its data:

Nearly 6 out of 10 voters (58 percent) think Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem should be removed from her job, while 34 percent think she should remain in her job.

‘A strong no confidence vote for the beleaguered top cop at Homeland Security whose agency’s job performance is considered dismal enough by voters that she should be let go,’ [Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy said].

On Capitol Hill, a growing, bipartisan group of lawmakers have called for Noem’s ouster, and the number of House Democrats backing an impeachment resolution against the South Dakota Republican is up to 187.

Whether Trump cares or not, the DHS secretary is an increasingly obvious political liability.