Reeling Republican leaders privately denounce Trump's ICE move as 'disaster': MS NOW host

Tom Boggioni
Tue, 24 Mar 2026 11:52:55 +0000

Reeling Republican lawmakers dreading a midterm wipe-out are seeing their chances of holding both chambers of Congress further diminished by Donald Trump sending ICE agents into already troubled airports.

According to MS NOW’s Willie Geist, the nation’s focus has been on the travel chaos brought about by TSA agents skipping work because they are not being paid — for which he said Republicans are being blamed, despite them trying to make Democrats responsible.

And the president has exacerbated the fury by mixing the already reviled ICE agents into the mix, he said.

With “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough pointing out that Trump managed to combine the TSA turmoil with the general loathing of ICE into a toxic brew, Geist added, “When you say Republicans are putting these together, it's really Donald Trump who's putting these stories together because, as you say, Republicans publicly, [Louisiana Senator] John Kennedy on Fox News, [Senate Majority Leader] John Thune as well, but really privately are saying this is a disaster.”

“You're first of all, you're pushing ICE back into the headlines, which is terrible for us and many people would argue terrible for the country,” he said of Republicans. “And you're putting us at risk now politically, of having to defend the actions of having ICE in this place. We're trying to get a deal. You have ICE agents in the airport on the other side of that security line. You have TSA officers who don't make a lot of money to begin with, making no money.”

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