Fox News host Rich Edson and guest Matt Terrill found themselves backed into a corner during an interview that quickly fell out of their control.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s former communications director, Corbin Trent, appeared on Fox News Live Sunday. When confronted about a lack of public support for Iran from the left, Trent was quick to point out that protests were in fact taking place against an “oppressive regime” in the U.S. They just were currently focused on the U.S. following the killing of an unarmed mother, Renee Nicole Good, by an ICE agent.
“We look at the protesters in Iran and they are patriots, they are people trying to overthrow an oppressive regime. Here if you have protesters, they should be shot in the face, and anybody that does it should have absolute immunity,” Trent said.
The former communications director was referring to comments made by Trump administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who have repeatedly defended ICE agent Jonathan Ross.
Ross shot Good three times in a Minneapolis confrontation on Jan. 7. Video footage showed Good trying to leave the scene of a federal immigration operation when Ross opened fire. Noem immediately branded Good as a “domestic terrorist,” and Vice President JD Vance said Ross had “absolute immunity” in the incident.
“So what’s funny to me, is when is violence, when is protest, when is this all acceptable?” Trent continued.
“Where’s the protest against the regime that’s killing people in the street right now?” quickly interrupted Edson, referring to Iran. “I don’t see anybody in Colombia...”
Trent clapped back: “Well, they are doing those today, and it’s called the ICE protests. Is that what you’re asking?”
“Are they talking about Iran at the ICE protests?” Edson questioned, struggling to get the interview back under control.
Trent was not to be deterred, responding: “No, I think they are talking about the regime that is shooting people in the face. I mean, I think it’s a very American idea that I don’t want police forces to be able to shoot Americans indiscriminately. And the idea that JD Vance says, that they should have absolute immunity.”
The northeast Tennessee native continued to the silenced hosts: “You know, I thought this guy was a hillbilly. He had a book called Hillbilly Elegy, and I can tell you, hillbilly values—at least where I’m from in Appalachia—are that the government ought not be able to have absolute immunity when they shoot you in the face. But, maybe we came from a different Appalachia.”
At that point, the Fox host quickly wrapped the interview.
Vance caught the insult from the fellow Appalachian after his comments at a White House press briefing on Thursday, the day after Good was shot to death by Jonathan Ross.
During his speech, the vice president claimed, “The precedent here is very simple. You have a federal law enforcement official engaging in federal law enforcement action—that’s a federal issue. That guy is protected by absolute immunity. He was doing his job.”
Alongside his claims that all ICE agents had complete immunity, Vance also smeared 37-year-old Good as a “deranged leftist” in one of many X posts on the killing.
According to CNN’s legal analyst, however, Vance was incorrect to say that Ross was wholly in the clear from facing any repercussions.
“That is not correct, and the vice president of the United States went to literally the most prestigious law school on the planet and knows that that’s not accurate,” Elliot Williams said on Friday.
“Now, certainly law enforcement officers enjoy tremendous and very broad immunity for the actions that they carry out on the job, and they should, because they have to make very stressful on-the-spot decisions without the benefit of hindsight that we all have watching things on TikTok,” he added.
“That said, when someone steps far outside the bounds of either state or local law or, frankly, even their own guidelines as law enforcement officials, absolutely, they can be held accountable both by the agency they work for or state, local or federal authorities.”
