MAGA Has Sold Their Souls After ICE In Minneapolis

What this episode is about

The discussion focuses on the reaction of right-wing figures, particularly Meghan Kelly, to the actions of ICE in Minneapolis, highlighting misinformation surrounding a specific incident involving a protester, Alex Prey. The commentary critiques the justification of law enforcement's aggressive tactics, emphasizing that the narrative being spun by the administration and its supporters is disconnected from the reality of the situation.

Key takeaways

• Megan Kelly's lack of empathy highlights a troubling double standard: compassion for some, but not for others.
• Facts don't matter to the right-wing narrative; it's about spinning a story to fit political agendas—truth be damned.
• The irony of claiming 'limited government' while advocating blind obedience to state authority is rich enough to make anyone chuckle.
• Advocating for peaceful protest while endorsing a narrative that dehumanizes victims reveals a disturbing disconnect with reality.
• Whatever happened before, the principle remains: no action justifies state-sanctioned violence without due process—let's not get that twisted.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Tommy Vietor (Host) · 11 min speaking
• Jon Favreau (Host) · 7 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Alex Jeffrey Prey, Megan Kelly, Kyle Rittenhouse
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Alex Jeffrey Prey, Megan Kelly
3. 6:00 – 9:00: Tim Pool
4. 9:00 – 12:00: Cook Unity, Tom H. Homeman
5. 12:00 – 15:00: Tim Pool
6. 15:00 – 17:34: Melania, Brett Ratner

Notable quotes from "MAGA Has Sold Their Souls After ICE In Minneapolis"

• Let's watch it. I know I'm supposed to feel sorry for Alex Prey, but I don't. I don't. Do you know why I wasn't shot by Border Patrol this weekend? Because I kept my ass inside and out of their.

  about Alex Jeffrey Prey · at 0:27

• Said when Kyle Writtenhouse got off in 2021. She basically was like talking about how cruel the media was.

  about Kyle Rittenhouse · at 2:37

• Government intrusion into our civil liberties. First of all, when these people come out and go, Tim's a bootlicker for defending us. I'm No, no, you misunderstand. It's my…

  about Tim Pool · at 6:07

• Of edge lord, vice style lefty and now he's whatever that is just, sucking up the Trump. Pods of America is brought to you by Cook Unity.

  about Cook Unity · at 9:15

• Be happening, they're all out on a limb and now Trump's on it off because he has dispatched Tom H. Homeman who is I would say no prize. most recently famous for allegedly…

  about Tom H. Homeman · at 10:12

• That's why we're here doing this coverage. we want to thank our sponsor, Melania, a new film by Brett Ratner. It's available and, you can get tickets for Melania. It is out now. They're going fast. are we also going as a group?

  about Melania · at 16:04

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Alex Jeffrey Prey — Person · Victim referenced in political/media controversy · 3 mentions · first at 0:27
  Central to the segment: discussed as an American civilian killed during/around a Border Patrol/ICE operation; used to critique right-wing media rationalizations (esp. Megan Kelly).
• Megan Kelly — Person · Referenced media figure criticized by hosts · 2 mentions · first at 0:19
  Her comments are the opening focus: hosts argue she misstates facts and rationalizes cruelty regarding Alex Prey’s killing; contrasted with her past empathy rhetoric re: Kyle Rittenhouse.
  But let's start with Megan Kelly, who said one of the most appalling things I've heard in the past few weeks.
• Tim Pool — Person · Referenced commentator (right-wing YouTuber) criticized by hosts · 3 mentions · first at 6:11
  Quoted arguing pro-enforcement/authoritarian framing (“wearing the boot”); used as an example of pro-state rhetoric and media incentives.
• Tom H. Homeman — Person · Referenced government official (operations lead/liaison in discussion) · 1 mention · first at 10:16
  Presented as dispatched by the Trump administration to take over/adjust operations in the Twin Cities; framed as corrupt yet comparatively ‘voice of reason’ on optics/tactics.
• Kyle Rittenhouse — Person · Referenced figure used for comparison/contrast · 1 mention · first at 2:44
  Invoked to highlight perceived hypocrisy: hosts claim Megan Kelly urged empathy for him in 2021 but denies compassion to Alex Prey.
• Brett Ratner — Person · Referenced filmmaker in a sarcastic aside · 1 mention · first at 16:08
  Mentioned as part of a joke about a film (“Melania”) and marketing spend; not central to the political discussion.
  That's why we're here doing this coverage. we want to thank our sponsor, Melania, a new film by Brett Ratner. It's available and, you can get tickets for Melania. It is out now. They're going fast. are we also going as a group?

Sponsors

• Cook Unity — Product · Sponsor · 2 mentions · first at 9:19
  Promoted as a meal delivery service offering chef-designed meals with various dietary options.
• Melania — Product · Sponsor · 1 mention · first at 16:08
  Promoted as a new film by Brett Ratner, available for viewing.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Hey Tommy. Hey. All right, so uh a lot of developments in the Twin Cities. There are, uh, right-wingers desperately trying to defend what the administration is doing and try to spin what everybody has been seeing. While at the same time, the Trump administration seems to be recognizing that the images have been bad for them. I don't think they're doing any kind of moral re-examination. But let's start with uh Megan Kelly, who said uh one of the most appalling things I've heard uh in the past few weeks. Let's watch it. I I know I'm supposed to feel sorry for Alex Prey, but I don't. I don't. Do you know why I wasn't shot by Border Patrol this weekend? Because I kept my ass inside and out of their operations.

0:42 It It's very simple. If I felt strongly enough about something the government was doing that I would go out and protest, I would do it peacefully on the sidewalk without interfering via a whistle, via shouting, via my body, via any other way. I would make my objections known by standing there without interfering because interfering is where you go south. And laying hands on a police officer trying to or border patrol officer or ICE officer trying to conduct a law enforcement operation is a felony. and now you are going to get arrested and if you do anything anything that resembles resisting you're in serious trouble.

1:23 So I feel like there's two things to to to talk about with that. One is just the facts of what she's saying which are just wrong. Alex Prey was on the side

1:33 and he only comes forward when uh a border patrol person comes running towards them and a woman is knocked down. He tries to help

1:40 interfering in any way. He was standing there recording. He was recording. uh and uh he has his hands up, right? He he uh isn't actually the one that instigates this confrontation. And then there's just like even if he did, uh it's not a capital offense.

1:56 That is not why police or any kind of law enforcement has the authority to kill anybody. They have to be in mortal danger. They have to be afraid for their lives. And they had already removed the gun and his hands were up. So it is just sort of on the facts ridiculous. But but there I do think the reason this is this matters is because there's something like deeper and more ugly about what she's saying, which is trying to convince herself why she's right to not feel bad. I don't know what you thought about it.

2:21 I mean, it's you can't just feel bad for a person. You can't feel bad for a person who was killed. They're a human being. They have a family. They have a life. They didn't want to die. Like clearly he didn't deserve to die. Like like it's absurd. I I'm I'm struck by a couple things. The first of all is a lot of people were recirculating what she said when um uh Kyle Writtenhouse got off in 2021. She basically was like talking about how cruel the media was. She said we forget people's humanity in the press. We just want to kill them. We want to go for the jugular talking about like I guess Kyle Written House's reputation. It's like where was that empathy? Why doesn't that empathy extend to an individual who had been killed when you have empathy for someone who shot three people at a protest, who brought a gun to a protest, who did all the things um you're suggesting were, you know, irresponsible or irrational.

3:07 And then also, it's like I don't know. I I I guess I just again naively thought that these people really did believe in limited government, but instead they just think that uh all of us should bow down to the state and that with you know, unless you follow every order to a you deserve to die.

3:22 Yeah. It's just this like it's also just this strange like you feel attention like this like she's trying to prove to herself that she doesn't have to feel bad for someone she just doesn't like. Uh like she also now there's a video circulating uh I don't even know if it's verified or even verifiable that may be Alex Prey in a previous instance where he kicks a a vehicle and and cracks the tail light.

3:45 I think it's been verified. Yeah. Is it now been verified? and and uh now even if that is him, first of all, there's no bearing on whether uh the his killing was justified

3:54 11 days later. Uh but uh Megan then goes on to say she's been on a tear about this. She said was itching for another confrontation with Border Patrol whom he'd been stalking, harassing, and terrorizing. He had been victimizing them. His felonies are on tape. He was reckless and it cost him his life. Find another po poster boy. illegal loving leftists. She also says he was an agitator. He was in a physical confrontation with the feds a week earlier. Still, he went back and injected himself into a law enforcement op. around, find out. As for me, I have plenty of compassion for innocent Americans being killed, etc., etc. That was in response to someone's pointing out the fact that she was such showing such a lack of compassion.

4:30 I I look you I've seen this video. Like, obviously, I we don't know what happened before this video. Um, obviously, you should not go up to a federal agent's vehicle and kick their tail light and smash it. Like, that's going to get you arrested. That's against the law. Um, it sounds like he was pretty severely beaten by these ICE officers during that incident. Like they broke his rib. And I think it says a lot about him that he felt strongly enough uh to go back out into his community and still try to defend people even given that situation.

4:58 And like the suggestion that something he did 11 days previous has some bearing on how these CBP guys acted in the moment is crazy and stupid. And again, it's just this like rationalization of this cruelty and of of their love for the state just trampling on our rights.

5:13 Yeah. They're trying to call him now sort of Antifa left a left leftist agitator. There's a lot of there was a lot of uh like fake news about him circulating that he was fired from his job at the VA where he was a nurse for a sick and dying veterans trying to claim that he had been fired. That they're trying to they're trying to do anything they can to just deal with the to to not deal with the fact that this was seems to be a incredible person.

5:33 Yeah. Like a nice human being. Yeah. They they want to strip away his humanity. They want to make him what they're trying to do what they did originally, which is make him a domestic terrorist, make him an assassin, all the that the Trump administration has officially walked back. But, you know, the MAGA kind of media sick of fans have seized on this video as their aha moment. They think it's like it it rationalizes or justifies the entire thing, which is like, what's wrong with you if you think that?

5:55 Yeah. Now, let's go to another uh right-wing YouTuber who had an interesting argument uh for uh why he is in favor of this aggressive uh big government intrusion uh into our civil liberties. First of all, when these people come out and go, "Tim's a bootlicker for defending us." I'm like, "No, no, you misunderstand. It's my boots. It's mine. I voted for them. I'm wearing the boot. I'm stomping on the ground. I ain't licking anybody. I'm clapping for these people that I said please go out and enforce the law and anybody else who's cheering for who voted for it too. We're all wearing the boots. You're the one crying.

6:34 I I've not seen that yet. It is. First of all, I love it. I just think that like put that in the Smithsonian. Wow. I'm wearing the boots. First of all, it's lovely to see like Thank you for just saying that, right? that you are getting some sort of uh uh uh like psychosexual pleasure from watching these interactions by imagining that it's your foot inside of the boots and that actually part of this for you is the feeling. It's not that this is not a a a government going too far and a federal government that is lawless and out of control. It's that you feel like you're on side. That is your that is your boot.

7:10 That's your team. Yeah. Tim Pool watched American History X and the curb stomping scene and was like, "Oo, how do I get me some of that?" It's like, "All right, Tibby, first of all, the boot is up your ass, right? Like, you're just doing whatever the government tells you. You're not a libertarian. Um, you will do whatever Donald Trump says. And also,

7:27 can we just get rid of the beanie?" You know what I mean? What's going on under that?

7:30 The boot has been rubbing on your hairline. We all know it's gone. It's okay. It's okay. Just age gracefully.

7:36 Yeah. Or don't go to Go to Turkey. I don't care what you do. Yeah. I'm I refuse to age. Hey, Tim, this is a beanie. I'm wearing a beanie. All right. Just doing a different way. Uh yeah. The the other part of it, too, is it's like, hey, look,

7:50 I know it feels like you're the one wearing the boot because you're you're enjoying this

7:53 for now. You might be. Yeah. Yeah. But you should I would just suggest you go do a little reading about all the different people who thought they were wearing the boot. Exactly. Until they found out that no matter what boots they had on, suddenly a boot was on their neck, too. It doesn't end well for the people who think they're uh uh inside the circle. The circle gets smaller uh and suddenly you feel like you're on the outside and then you wish you understood uh you wish you had reflected a bit more on on the enjoyment you were taking from this government. Yeah.

8:20 Going too far. He is uh not the brightest bulb. I guess we should not expect much more from someone who we learned in 2024 was being paid by the Russian government for a long time through this tenant media operation which was secretly funded by the Russians. Um but yeah, these guys um saying do whatever it takes for money. I guess they're all up in arms about the Epstein files a little while ago. Now they just forgotten about that and now they're just all in favor of killing American civilians.

8:44 It's also like you're not even you're I don't even know if you're wearing shoes. I don't even know if you're wearing pants. You're recording into a microphone as we are doing. You're no like forget being a guy on the street uh uh in ice with a boot on. You're nowhere near as brave as all the people on the street without the boots or the guns that are just trying to document all this. Like these people on the streets are so much braver than you could ever be while you're sort of taking sick pleasure in all this.

9:10 And he knows this cuz he like got to start covering the Occupy Wall Street protests and pretended to be like a kind of edge lord, you know, vice style lefty and now he's whatever that is just, you know, sucking up the Trump. Pods of America is brought to you by Cook Unity. I have been using Cook Unity forever, for years, long before they ever sponsored this podcast. It is fantastic. Uh, most of my meals are from Cook Unity. They deliver chef designed meals that balance real flavor, nutrition, and convenience with no cooking or planning required. They also let you choose what works for you with collections like protein forward, better for sleep, mood boosting, and fiber maxing. Plus, it's awesome knowing their roster of all-star chefs include Food Network alums, James Beard award winners, and acclaimed restaurant tours who balance bold flavors and nutrition and small batch meals delivered fresh, not frozen.

9:53 Taste, comfort, and craftsmanship in every bite from the award-winning chefs behind Cook Unity. Go to cookunity.com/crooked or use codec crooked to get 50% off your first order. That's 50% off your first order at cookunity.com/crooked or use the code crooked. So all these people that have uh tried to defend what Trump is doing and tried to pretend that it was all good and exactly what should be happening, they're all out on a limb and now Trump's on it off because uh he has dispatched Tom H. Homeman uh who is uh I would say uh no prize. uh most recently famous for uh allegedly accepting $50,000 in a Cava bag as part of a bribe related uh uh to his future role in the government, but now he's the voice of reason. Uh let's what let's hear what he had to say about um what he is uh doing as he takes over operations in in the Twin Cities.

10:40 That said, I'm not here because of the federal government has carried this mission out perfectly. First thing I said to senior staff when I walked in here is what I told you. I didn't come here looking for photo ops or headlines. I come here looking for solutions. I do not want to hear that everything's been done here has been perfect. Nothing's ever perfect. Anything will be improved on. And what we've been working on is making this operation safer, more efficient by the book. The mission is going to improve because of the changes we're making internally.

11:21 So Jesus, no one has ever looked more like a corrupt cop than that guy. I know. I know. It's like it's like Bevino into Homeman. It's like it's like a different brand of villain from an 80s movie. Like he's like kind of the the the the whoever the guys the the the bandits whatever. If he feels like Yeah. None of that went bandits. the cannonball run villain or like the villain from that show about the where the guys had the Confederate flag on their car but they were the good guys. I remember Boss Hogos reminds me of that's who it is. Boss also um what's it like uh uh he's using the thing it's like our our our operations so far have not been perfect. What an understatement. What an understatement. And uh you know it's it's actually a technique a lot of Trump defenders use. I wanted to take a moment on this. It's it's called like lotes I believe it's called or leotes I think is the term. Maybe pronouncing that wrong.

12:06 I don't remember. Uh it's when you do understatement by double negative. So like when like um like if you were to say uh uh uh you know the the um California's response to the fires has not been great. Right. It's a it's a ry way of avoiding actually saying what's bad about it. Rubio does that kind of thing.

12:24 I'm sorry. Right. Yeah. It's an ironic understatement. Yes. And uh No, man. No one thinks it's been perfect. That's not No one that is not what anybody is feeling about what's happening in the Twin Cities.

12:36 Yeah. It's surprising that that's what passes as for contrition, but you know, I I look, I saw that. Honestly, my honest reaction was like, okay, good. That that's a little bit of a relief. I mean, my guess is Homeman is doing this more as a dig at his internal enemies within the Trump administration, Christy Nome, Cory Luwendowski, Bevino. Um, again, this is a man who will now be, I guess, liazing with federal and local law enforcement. uh and in 2024 allegedly accepted 50 grand from under undercover FBI agents posing as business business executives trying to buy future contracts. So like he is as corrupt as they come. I I'm sure he has the same sort of authoritarian instincts. It does sound like he wants to focus more on traditional ICE techniques of like working with state and local governments to get people out of prisons rather than just like driving around doing these sweeps. That would be an improvement for

13:25 people on the ground. I think we should cheer for improvements for people on the ground. But it doesn't mean it's good.

13:29 No. And and he did also say that they're going to reduce the the footprint which is just that's a that's an objective improvement as well. And I also just by the way to Tim Pool defending whatever the administration does. The administration hasn't been in agreement. Some of this is about a tension between Homeman versus the Millers and Gnomes and Luendowskis. uh they thought that doing these kinds of big public uh uh like dominating raids of cities would be good press for them. Uh and it hasn't been. And so I think the question is great like they're going to they're going to they're toning they're changing the tone. Though I think that

14:04 the fact that Gnome was so terrible and monstrous highlighted what they were doing and why it was wrong. But then the question is are they actually going to change their tactics? And then more importantly, does Ste still is Steven Miller still going around trying to hassle people daytoday to try to get to a million deportations? Cuz there's no way to do that without going after people's neighbors. There's just no way to do that.

14:26 That's right. And that that is the broader concern. Like obviously, you know, murdering two American citizens was so egregious and doing it on tape. I mean, that there's been a lot of reporting today. NBC News had a great Tik Tok report about like how Trump kind of was moved on the issue and it was because he didn't like the images on on cable news. He didn't like seeing Americans getting shot. in like the sense of chaos and you know things being out of control. Um it's very easy to make that go away. What's not easy to make go away is just the broader terrorizing of a lot of these communities and like there's this Washington Post story from a week or two back about kind of like a day in the life of people in Minnesota and they they interviewed this family and there was an 8-year-old, a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old who hadn't been to school in a month and the and the 12-year-old like wasn't allowed to go outside and play,

15:07 you know, and it's like it's just horrifying. like these kids are the learning loss like the fear the anxiety like there's so many costs to this that were not quantified by like whatever ICE is doing or Tom Hman says people ripped from their families but I was you know in the Twin Cities over uh the last couple days and you also met the people through their unions through other mutual aid groups bringing supplies to those people you saw people all over on every street corner monitoring for when ice and I do think look it's not over and even any improvement would it'll lead us in a a dangerous and unacceptable uh uh policy by the administration. But I do think we should all just take a moment and say the the people of the Twin Cities went toe-to-toe with the Trump administration and they absolutely won. And I think that that is an amazing thing that we should uh not lose sight of even as we

15:58 have to like not be polyianish about how much worse uh it could get. Um and uh uh that's why we're here doing this coverage. Um, uh, we want to thank our sponsor, uh, Melania, a new film by Brett Ratner. It's available and, uh, you can get tickets for Melania. It is out now. They're going fast. Um,

16:17 are we also going as a group? Uh, we're going as a group. No. Uh, what you can do is subscribe to this channel. Uh, you're not going to the movies this weekend to see Melania, but you could support what we're doing here, trying to bring you good information, trying to compete against right-wing misinformation. uh trying to make sure we get this to as many people as possible because the right-wing has a huge head start on us. Yeah. So, do us a favor, subscribe, comment here, share this. It really does help us. And uh we'll we'll see you next time.

16:45 Did you see how much they're spending on marketing for Amazon? $35 million. Look, I know we're done. I know we're done. At least Tom Hman had the dignity to try to get a bag of cash in a secret way like under the table. This is a bribe in every movie theater.

16:59 $40 million. Movie theater is a bribe. Every empty theater is a bribe in our faces. It's at the grove. There's a bribe. A federal bribe at the Grove right now. The Americana. All right,

17:12 this is free. Subscribe. Subscribe.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "MAGA Has Sold Their Souls After ICE In Minneapolis"?

Tommy Vietor (Host), Jon Favreau (Host).

What is "MAGA Has Sold Their Souls After ICE In Minneapolis" about?

The discussion focuses on the reaction of right-wing figures, particularly Meghan Kelly, to the actions of ICE in Minneapolis, highlighting misinformation surrounding a specific incident involving a protester, Alex Prey. The commentary critiques the justification of law enforcement's aggressive tactics, emphasizing that the narrative being spun by the administration and its supporters is…

What is mentioned in this Pod Save America episode?

8 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Alex Jeffrey Prey, Megan Kelly, Tim Pool, Tom H. Homeman, Kyle Rittenhouse, Brett Ratner. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "MAGA Has Sold Their Souls After ICE In Minneapolis"?

The episode runs 18 min; the transcript is about 3,701 words in 42 timestamped sections.

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