Speaking before a packed crowd in North Carolina, Vice President JD Vance delivered a scorching condemnation of the left-wing media and Democratic leaders, particularly California Gov. Gavin Newsom, for what he called their role in encouraging violence against federal law enforcement. His remarks came in the wake of the deadly shooting at an ICE facility in Texas, where a radical leftist opened fire on detainees, killing one, while miraculously missing the agents who were the apparent intended targets.
Vance didn’t mince words. He laid the blame squarely on the shoulders of politicians and media figures who demonize ICE, saying their rhetoric has real-world consequences. “Here is what happens when Democrats, like Gavin Newsom, say that these people are part of an authoritarian government,” Vance declared.
He was equally critical of the media, accusing them of deliberately misrepresenting ICE’s work. “When the left-wing media lies about what they’re doing, when they lie about who they’re arresting, when they lie about the actual job of law enforcement, what they’re doing is encouraging crazy people to go and commit violence,” he said.
Vance specifically referenced a California law that forces law enforcement officers to forgo identity-protecting masks while on duty. He connected the law to the deadly shooting, arguing that such policies put officers at risk by making them targets. “When Democratic politicians encourage doxing, when they encourage us to unmask ICE enforcement officers, what do you think is going to happen?” Vance asked the audience.
The Vice President made it clear that his criticism wasn’t about policy disagreement. He acknowledged that not everyone would support his approach to immigration—or former President Trump’s—but emphasized that no political ideology should incite attacks on law enforcement. “You don’t have to agree with my immigration policies, you don’t have to agree with Donald Trump’s immigration policies,” he said. “But if your political rhetoric encourages violence against our law enforcement, you can go straight to hell and you have no place in the political conversation of the United States of America.”
Vance’s comments struck a nerve with liberals. Gov. Newsom responded with a petulant X (formerly Twitter) post, claiming that listening to Vance made him “feel like [he’s] already in hell.” He added, “No thanks, JD. I will not be going ‘straight to hell’ today. Though when I watch you speak I certainly feel like I’m already there.”
But for many conservatives, Vance’s words were a long-overdue wake-up call. With ICE agents increasingly vilified by politicians and portrayed as villains by the media, the risk of politically motivated attacks has become undeniable. Vance’s speech highlighted the dangerous consequences of demonizing those who enforce the law—showing that rhetoric has real-world costs, especially when radicalized individuals act on it.
In North Carolina, Vance’s fiery rhetoric was met with cheers, underscoring the frustration many Americans feel as law enforcement officers are targeted while leftist leaders and media cheerleaders continue to spin misleading narratives. His message was clear: political disagreements are no excuse for violence, and anyone who incites it has no place in America’s political discourse.
