Jon Stewart Slams Republicans for Minneapolis ICE Shooting Reaction

On this week’s episode of “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart attacked Republicans for deflecting blame from federal agents for the shooting of a 37-year-old man in Minneapolis on Saturday.

At the top of Monday’s show, Stewart played clips of the United States Secretary of Homeland Security,
Kristi Noem, at a press conference shortly after the shooting. She claimed the victim, Alex Pretti, “came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation” and “attacked” federal agents.

“Those are the facts,” Stewart said. “And there’s really no reason to doubt them, no evidence exists to contradict their–hold on. I’m getting a…. really? I’m hearing there may be some grainy Zapruder footage from every angle imaginable that contradicts the government’s version of events!”

The show then cut to news clips covering civilian footage of the shooting. CNN reported that all Pretti had in his hand was “a cell phone, not a gun.” The outlet also reported that Pretti was “trying to help a woman” who’d been “pushed to the ground and pepper-sprayed” by ICE agents moments before he was killed. In a clip from NBC News, a reporter claims that one video appears to “show Pretti’s legal, registered firearm being removed from his person by an officer just seconds before those shots were fired.”

“Well, looks like we’ve got a real case of: ‘He-said, video-totally-disproves-what-he- said,’” Stewart joked.

Later in the show, Stewart played a clip from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s appearance on “Meet the Press.” He said during his interview that Pretti “was not protesting peacefully,” adding, “You shouldn’t gaslight the administration about what happened.”

“We’re gaslighting you?” Stewart exclaimed. “Speaking of gaslighting, here is Todd Blanche, a day after accusing all of us of gaslighting the administration about what happened.”

The late-night pundit then cut to Fox News, where Blanche claimed, “I don’t think anybody thinks that they were comparing what happened on Saturday to the legal definition of domestic terrorism.”

“Well, I mean, they were certainly insinuating it,” Stewart said. “I mean, it might be hard to find someone explicitly using those exact words, but — we found ’em.”

Stewart then cut back to Noem’s press conference, where she said, “Violence against a government because of ideological reasons and for reasons to resist and perpetuate violence, that is the definition of domestic terrorism.”

Stewart joked, “I think that actually might be the definition of gaslighting.”

Watch the entire segment below.