NOEM TO ROOST

Fired ICE Barbie Roasted Over Cringeworthy Trump Claim

Democrats have turned the heat on Kristi Noem after she made a bold claim in the wake of the GOP midterms wipeout.

At a Minneapolis street memorial on Tuesday, “I Voted” stickers piled up beside flowers and photographs of two Americans shot dead in the street by Kristi Noem’s marauding masked immigration agents.

The shocking killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good last January—the horrific embodiment of ICE and Border Patrol’s hardcore tactics—sparked worldwide revulsion, became arguably the defining moment of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, and played a significant role in the GOP’s midterm mauling.

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Yet Noem, who was fired as Homeland Security Secretary by Trump in March following a catalog of disasters including allegations of corruption that brought serious heat onto his second-term administration, failed to read the room.

“Larry Kudlow is correct. We were too successful the first year of the Trump administration,” she posted on X.

Kudlow, a former Trump economic adviser and Fox Business host, had insisted on the eve of the election that the economy was “booming,” predicting Republicans would retain the Senate and suggesting the House race was finely balanced.

In the real world, across Minnesota and America, voters disagreed—and handed Democrats control of both chambers.

Whatever Noem might say publicly, her catastrophic 13-month tenure at the Department of Homeland Security became one of Trump’s biggest liabilities.

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Driven by a tone-deaf and eye-wateringly expensive advertising campaign that has drawn congressional scrutiny over alleged cronyism and corruption, she was the very public face of the deployment that turned American streets into scenes of bloodshed and death.

The administration did achieve a dramatic reduction in illegal border crossings. But its highly publicized raids, masked agents, failure to adhere to the law, and violent clashes turned immigration enforcement from a vote winner for Trump in 2024 into a major electoral problem two years later.

An October Pew Research Center survey found 56 percent of Americans viewed ICE unfavorably, compared with 35 percent favorably. Among Hispanic adults, negative opinion reached 67 percent.

That was particularly damaging to Trump, who had made major gains with Latino voters in 2024. An NBC News/Telemundo poll before the midterms found 67 percent of Latino voters believed his immigration crackdown had gone too far, while 59 percent wanted Democrats to control Congress, compared to 35 percent for Republicans.

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ICE’s public brutality repulsed many Republicans, and even some MAGA supporters, who wanted tough but fair immigration enforcement policy.

Perhaps seeing the iceberg ahead, Trump fired Noem in March amid a storm over her $220 million taxpayer-funded immigration advertising campaign that featured her prominently.

ProPublica reported that $143 million went to a newly formed company, while a subcontractor had close ties to Noem’s circle. She maintained the contracts were handled legally and by career officials.

Noem testified that Trump supported the ad campaign. The president said he “never knew anything about it,” immediately before announcing her removal.

Lawmakers and the media—including the Daily Beast and its investigations unit, PunchUp—have questioned plane and deportation contracts handed to Noem political donor, former State Department surgeon William Walters III.

And last month, the Justice Department began reviewing allegations that her chief adviser and rumored lover, Corey Lewandowski, improperly sought financial benefits through DHS contracting. Lewandowski denies wrongdoing and has not been charged.

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After her axing, Noem was shuffled into a diplomatic envoy job Trump created to give her a soft landing, which expired in September, though she remains a State Department adviser.

But with Democrats projected to seize the House, win subpoena power, and call formal hearings on whatever they like, Noem will likely have little time to twiddle her thumbs.

Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan—who previously demanded that DHS preserve Noem’s and Lewandowski’s records amid allegations of misconduct—responded to Noem’s post about the administration’s success by asking: “Want to say that under oath?”—tagging Lewandowski.

Rep. Delia Ramirez went straight at Noem and other architects of Trump’s immigration crackdown: “Noem, Markwayne, Miller, Homan, Bovino, what’s up? Clear your schedule,” she posted as Democrats celebrated their congressional victories.

And the incoming chair of the Oversight Committee, Robert Garcia, best summed up the challenges Noem and her administration cronies are likely to face in just two words: “Lawyer up.”

At memorials for Pretti and Good, voters left their stickers as small, defiant tributes.

“I just want this nightmare to end for our city and for our country,” Minneapolis voter Peg Ihinger told MPR News after leaving a sticker at Pretti’s memorial. “And damn it, they shouldn’t have died.”

Noem might well believe her first year was a triumph. Based on the midterm results, not many seem to agree.

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Tom LatchemLead Global Correspondent

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