The growing number of Republicans challenging the Trump administration’s handling of the Alex Pretti killing reflects a potentially significant shift in the dynamics of the Trump presidency, as GOP officials who have almost uniformly supported the president are sparking an unusual backlash over his signature issue of immigration.
Congressional Republicans voiced little dissent during the first year of Trump’s second term, rallying behind even positions that were long anathema to the party. But mounting GOP calls for an independent investigation of the killing — which was captured in a number of startling videos — have pushed the administration to abruptly soften its tone on the protester’s death and could have longer-term political consequences.
The unusual pushback also reflects Republicans’ increased concern that without a significant course correction, they are likely to lose control of Congress in November’s midterm elections. Trump’s approval ratings have fallen sharply, and polls increasingly show that Democrats are favored to retake the House and potentially the Senate.
The stark images of Pretti’s killing come against that backdrop.
“The circumstances are so blatant, and the situation is so stunning, that of course Republican officials are not going to buy the explanation put out before anybody actually looked at the evidence,” said Republican pollster Whit Ayres. “Any responsible public official would do what these Republicans are saying you should do, which is have a free and full and transparent investigation and follow the facts before you start making judgments and coming out with stories that are obviously lies.”
He added, “The guy is on the ground, he has been disarmed and you pump 10 bullets into his body. The circumstances are so amazing that it really presents an image of a bunch of trigger-happy masked commandos in an American city.”
The criticism and calls for investigation have come not only from the few Republicans who have previously been willing to criticize Trump, but from partisan Republicans and some of the president’s steadfast allies.
“I’ll tell you this, there needs to be a pivot in the whole operation,” Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nevada), who oversees homeland security spending, told The Nevada Independent. “Because regardless of what side of immigration enforcement you’re on, we are not in a good place right now.”
Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) took particular issue with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem. “I disagree with Secretary Noem’s premature DHS response, which came before all the facts were known and weakened confidence,” Curtis said. “I will be working with a bipartisan group of senators to demand real oversight and transparency.”
Shortly after Pretti was killed, Noem suggested the protester had attacked federal agents, saying, “This is a violent riot when you have someone showing up with weapons and are using them to assault law enforcement officers.” Senior Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino added that Pretti planned to “massacre” federal agents, and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller called Pretti “an assassin.”
Videos from the scene, however, showed Pretti had been trying to help another protester, had not pulled out or brandished his gun, and was shot multiple times after he had been disarmed.
Curtis, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) and other Republicans have called for Trump’s immigration officials to testify before Congress, paving the way for potentially contentious events that could be an unwelcome distraction from the administration’s message. The White House has been seeking to show that the president shares Americans’ concern about high prices and is working to deport undocumented immigrants who drive up those costs.
The growing Republican dissent comes as the president’s poll numbers continue to sag. Democrats are expected by strategists on both sides to recapture the House — and to even have a longshot chance at the Senate — in November’s midterms. A shift in power would mean a series of hearings and subpoenas by Democratic lawmakers, essentially creating an alternative power center in Washington that Trump has so far avoided in his second term.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 39 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing on immigration, while 53 percent disapprove, a steep fall on the president’s landmark issue. And 58 percent of respondents said ICE agents have gone “too far” in their crackdown.
A YouGov poll on Saturday found that more than twice as many people considered the Pretti shooting unjustified as justified. That was before a wave of stories analyzing video from the scene that further undermined the administration’s version of events.
As for Trump’s overall political strength, The Washington Post’s average of polls for January shows that 40 percent of Americans approve of his job performance while 58 percent disapprove.
“Two things have dawned on Republicans. One is that Democrats could retake the House at least and maybe the Senate. The second is that Donald Trump is going to be a lame duck,” said Rep. Ro Khanna (R-California). “So I do believe you will see more and more Republicans speaking out. Trump can defy some of the laws of politics, but not all of them.”
The Pretti killing marks the third episode in which Republicans have pushed back against Trump positions in recent weeks — on matters of personal conduct, foreign policy and now domestic policy.
In November, Congress voted overwhelmingly to force the release of files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a measure sponsored by Khanna and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky). Trump had initially opposed the move, but when it became clear that a significant number of Republicans would defect, he changed his position and supported the action.
More recently, Trump declared his intention to seize control of Greenland, which is currently a Danish territory, over the objection of its residents, infuriating and exasperating European leaders. He has relented, for now at least, in the face of strong international and bipartisan opposition.
On Minneapolis, much of the critique has focused on the administration’s rapid move to vilify Pretti as a radical leftist. “What I think the administration could do better is the tone with which they’re describing this — that immediately when an incident like this happens, they come out guns blazing that ‘we took out a violent terrorist, hooray,’” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said on his podcast.
Perhaps the sharpest comment has come from Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wisconsin), who like other Republicans stressed that illegal immigration is a serious problem that must be addressed. He also called Pretti’s death a “murder.”
“The video looks pretty damning. Obviously we have to wait to get all the videos in before we make a final conclusion,” Grothman told Spectrum News. He added, “In the future, the Department of Homeland Security is going to have to do a better job of educating their people to make sure this sort of murder doesn’t result.”
The backlash has prompted the normally pugnacious White House to soften its tone. Asked if Trump agrees with the harsh descriptions of Pretti by members of his team, White House Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt responded, “Look, as I’ve said, I have not heard the president characterize Mr. Pretti in that way. However, I have heard the president say he wants to let the facts in the investigation lead itself.”
Trump told reporters Tuesday he wants to see “a very honorable and honest investigation” into Pretti’s killing.
The White House also dispatched border czar Tom Homan to replace Bovino in Minnesota, a tacit recognition of the need for changes in the federal operation there.
Marc Short, a former top aide to Vice President Mike Pence, said Trump himself appears taken aback by the events in Minnesota. “People can see the videos themselves and are becoming uncomfortable,” Short said. “Obviously the president is as well, which is why he is making changes.”
Amid the pushback, however, some Republicans continue to blame Democrats for the killings and urge the administration to stay the course.
“The coordinated effort to stop law enforcement by politicians in Minnesota and around the country has caused chaos, and led to the tragic deaths of two Americans in Minnesota,” the conservative House Freedom Caucus wrote in a letter to Trump Tuesday. “It must end.”
Brent Buchanan, CEO of the Republican polling firm Cygnal, said polls show that the public strongly supports the goal of deporting illegal immigrants.
“Republicans need to have thick skin on this issue,” Buchanan said. “Republican out there washing their hands need to look at this as how can the issue be framed as, ‘This is the goal.’ Maybe there are other ways to achieve the goal, but keep the goal front and center — don’t get bogged down in micro events.”
Pretti’s death has particular resonance for conservatives who have long been sensitive to federal encroachment on free speech and other individual rights. Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia), a right-leaning firebrand who has recently broken with Trump, asked MAGA supporters to imagine an alternate scenario — that Pretti had been a MAGA enthusiast who was killed by federal agents under President Joe Biden.
“Both sides need to take off their political blinders,” Greene said. “You are all being incited into civil war, yet none of it solves any of the real problems that we all face, and tragically people are dying.”
The administration appeared to weaken its own position with some of its supporters by citing Pretti’s gun possession as a justification for killing him.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), calling the events in Minneapolis “incredibly disturbing,” was among those zeroing in on the gun issue. “Your Second Amendment rights don’t disappear when you exercise your other rights,” he posted. “The Constitution is crystal clear: ‘the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.’”
In another twist — Chris Madel, a Republican attorney in Minneapolis who had been running for governor — said Monday that he was ending his campaign because of the national GOP’s “retribution” against his state, calling the ICE operation an “unmitigated disaster.”
After the killing of Renée Good earlier in the month by an ICE officer in Minneapolis, the Trump administration sought to shut out Minnesota state officials from the investigation, which Democrats said reflected an attempt to whitewash the matter. In the aftermath of Pretti’s death, many Republicans are urging a “full” investigation, suggesting it should not be left solely up to the administration.
Paul noted that local police routinely place officers involved in deadly shootings on administrative leave until an independent investigation is completed, and that agency heads normally refrain from prejudicial comments.
“That should happen immediately,” Paul said. “I can’t recall ever hearing a police chief immediately describing the victim as a ‘domestic terrorist’ or a ‘would-be assassin.’ For calm to be restored, an independent investigation is the least that should be done.”
Sen. David McCormick (R-Pennsylvania), like some other Republicans, blamed Minnesota’s Democratic officials for purportedly inflaming the situation by vilifying ICE and Border Patrol agents.
Still, he added, “I also agree with the NRA and others — we need a full investigation into the tragedy in Minneapolis. We need all the facts.”
Marianne LeVine, Scott Clement, Patrick Marley and Theodoric Meyer contributed to this report.
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