White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stepped up to the press with the kind of intensity that usually signals a fight — not a briefing. What came out of her mouth, however, didn’t just spark confusion — it ignited a firestorm that left even longtime observers gasping. Leavitt ignited a firestorm Monday after delivering an aggressive defense of the fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis — one that included name-calling, victim shaming and deflection before ending abruptly when she walked away from reporters mid-exchange. US White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks to the press outside the White House in Washington, DC, on January 12, 2026. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images) The episode centered on the killing of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old Minneapolis mother of three who was shot and killed last week by ICE agent Jonathan Ross. Leavitt’s comments, delivered across multiple appearances, drew fierce backlash from viewers and social media users who accused her of misrepresenting video evidence, and displaying a stunning lack of empathy from the White House podium. ‘This Is Insane’: Trump Thinks He’s Calling the Shots — Then His Guard Drops, He Lets Something Slip, and Suddenly Everyone Sees Who He’s Really Trying to Please Appearing on Fox News’ “America Reports,” Leavitt was asked by host John Roberts whether President Donald Trump believed Ross was justified in using deadly force. She responded without hesitation: “Absolutely,” before accusing Democrats and the media of “lying” about the incident “from the very beginning.” “At first, you heard Democrats, including the mayor of Minneapolis, saying that the car never struck the officer and the lethal force was unjustified,” Leavitt said. She then escalated, describing Good as “this deranged, lunatic woman” and claiming she had tried to run over the agent. Leavitt asserted that Good had used her car “as a weapon,” declaring that this “justifies domestic terrorism.” View on Threads Those claims quickly ran into contradictions. Eyewitness videos circulated shortly after the shooting do not suggest Good intended to harm officers. Video recorded by Ross himself shows Good appearing calm in the moments before she was shot, with her last audible words captured on tape: “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you. I’m not mad at you.” Seconds after the shots were fired, an ICE agent—believed to be Ross—can be heard saying, “F–king b–ch.” Viewers reacted scathingly. “It’s absolutely wild how she can lie with such conviction. We all saw what we saw,” one observer wrote on Threads. Others criticized her conduct more broadly: “Very disrespectful of someone in her position to speak this way. It’s incredibly unprofessional as well.” “The family needs to sue this administration, Fox News and all the other bullsh-t artists for slandering a murdered woman,” another said. View on Threads One post directly flipped Leavitt’s language back on her. “And what is she! She’s the one who is the ‘deranged lunatic woman!’ Continually lying day in and day out! What kind of person does that? I’ll tell you what kind a ‘deranged lunatic woman!’ Leavitt’s rhetoric soon migrated to outdoor press briefing at the White House, where the tone intensified further. Asked whether President Trump was satisfied with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s public handling of the case, Leavitt launched into a sweeping defense of both Noem and ICE. In her nearly 2-minute long rant, Leavitt crossed a line that triggered widespread outrage when she asserted that protesters and the modern-day Democrat party want to protect “illegal aliens, pedophiles, rapists and murderers over law-abiding American citizens and our brave men and women who serve in law enforcement.” for the second time today, Leavitt calls Renee Good "a lunatic" and then she storms away from reporters pic.twitter.com/AYP6w4anxQ— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 12, 2026 Then Leavitt turned and walked away from the gaggle, abruptly ending the briefing. But her remarks about “protecting pedophiles” instantly reopened anger tied to Trump’s past ties to Jeffrey Epstein, a notorious pedophile, and the president’s own appearance in the Epstein files. “The audacity of this airhead to talk about “protecting pedophiles” while working for this admin,” one person fumed. “Did she actually say protecting pedophiles with a straight face?” another added. “Storms off like the petty child that she is,” said one viewer on X. “Sue that b*tch from here to eternity!” another fumed. Storms off like the petty child that she is.— Lynnez Rib Gone Rogue (@RibGoneRogue) January 12, 2026 Another commenter questioned the need to attack Good’s character at all. “Believe she tried to ram the cop or don’t believe it, do they really need to discredit her like this? You can be on the side of the psychopath that killed her and justify her murder WITHOUT trying to shame the dead woman.” Good is survived by three children: a 15-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son from her first marriage, and a 6-year-old son from her second marriage, which ended with her husband’s death. Leavitt’s comments echoed rhetoric from the highest levels of the administration. Vice President JD Vance labeled Good a “domestic terrorist,” falsely claimed Ross had “absolute immunity,” and wrote on X that her death was “a tragedy of her own making.” Trump, speaking aboard Air Force One, described Good as “very violent … very radical person.” ‘Storms Off Like a Petty … B—!’: Karoline Leavitt Melts Down Mid-Briefing, Fires Off One Insane Line Nobody Expected — Then Abruptly Bails as the Fallout Explodes ...read more read less