Ex-Obama aide slams 'propagandist' over ICE violence: 'Would be funny if it wasn't deadly'

Democratic analyst Tommy Vietor, who worked in the Obama administration, chided a Department of Homeland Security "propagandist" on Wednesday for defending violent acts immigration agents have committed against peaceful protesters.

Vietor referred to recent protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Chicago, where an immigration agent shot an unarmed priest with a rubber ball during a protest. In another incident, ICE officers rammed a woman with a car before shooting her five times.

Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS, who Vietor described as a "propagandist with a blowout," seemed to confirm the event when she posted on X that "agitators were blocking an ICE vehicle from leaving the federal facility—impeding operations."

"Over and over again, law enforcement ordered these agitators to move off of federal property so the vehicle could move," McLaughlin wrote. "Law enforcement verbally warned these agitators that they would use force if they did not move and stop impeding operations. They did not comply."

Vietor responded to the post in a new episode of "Pod Save America" on Wednesday.

"These guys are just like they're just thugs," Vietor said. "It's like it would be funny if it wasn't deadly."