CNN's Audie Cornish condemned Vice President JD Vance's ugly smears against a woman fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer near a raid in Minneapolis.
The vice president blamed 37-year-old Renee Good for her own death by claiming with no evidence that she was part of a far-left "lunatic fringe" intent of harming immigration agents, and the "CNN This Morning" host uncharacteristically weighed in on the topic before giving her guests a chance to speak.
"There is aconversation emerging that shesomehow deserved it, that shehad somehow put herself in thatplace," Cornish said. "Can you talk about thatconversation? Because, like, herchild just got orphaned and I amsort of shocked at the way thevice president came outliterally swinging."
The Daily Signal's Rob Bluey agreed with the vice president but using slightly softer language.
"Well, I don't think anybodydeserves to to die, particularlyin a situation like this, and Imourn for her and her family andpray for them," Bluey said. "I think that thevice president was right to callit a tragedy and I also thinkhe was right to point out thatsome of the rhetoric from peoplelike Gov. Tim Walz may havecontributed to those who haveflocked to Minnesota and othercities to attack lawenforcement. I mean, we've seenthe attacks on law enforcementgo up significantly under President Trump's watch."
"I mean, theyare not even deportingimmigrants at the level that President Trump promised duringthe campaign," Bluey added, "and so if this isonly going to increase, if theadministration is only planningto increase its enforcementactivity, I suspect that this isprobably only going to be asituation that gets worse,and what I'd like to see,hopefully, in this is people like Tim Walz toning down some of hisrhetoric."
The Argument's Jerusalem Demsas asked to weigh in and asked why civilians were being held to a higher standard than law enforcement in their encounters.
"There's justa question here always of of whoholds, who's held to a highstandard, and I think there'sthis problem where constantlycivilians are being told youneed to have a level of decorumand calm in the face of anemergency higher than lawenforcement," Demsas said. "But a lawenforcement agent can be afraidand concerned and shoot someone,but a civilian can't be afraidand act a little bit confusingin a situation that is new tothem."
"That is,to me, the bigger conversationhere of, like, what is happeningto the professionalization ofthe law enforcement of ICE whenthey shoot someone, they alljust kind of mill about for asolid minute," Demsas added. "I'm watching thisvideo. No one runs to administeraid immediately. They block aphysician from administeringaid. They don't have the abilityto de-escalate the groups thatare around in the immediatevicinity. Her wife is on thescene, and all of this ishappening while a conversationimmediately erupts from peoplewithin the administrationblaming the woman before we haveany information."
Cornish contrasted the lack of professionalism by federal law enforcement agents with claims by the administration that protesters were paid by far-left organizations to interfere with their operations.
"One of thethings I'm hearing a lot aboutis the professionalization ofthe left, the radical left, andit somehow feels like there isno such thing as a backlash tothe administration," Cornish said. "There's onlysomehow professional agitators,and everyone else at home isloving it and had voted for it."