\n Around 6:15 a.m. on Monday, \u201cFox & Friends\u201d co-host Brian Kilmeade pitched a solution to President Trump\u2019s growing political problem in Minnesota. \u201cWhat I would do is just bring Tom Homan in,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n
\n Kilmeade, a Trump booster who knows the president often watches the morning show, volunteered the idea again at 7:15 and once more at 8:10. Homan, the border czar and a former Fox commentator, would \u201csettle things down\u201d and help Trump, Kilmeade said.\n <\/p>\n
\n Maybe Trump was watching, maybe he wasn\u2019t \u2014 but either way, he said, \u201cI am sending Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight,\u201d 20 minutes after Kilmeade suggested it a third time.\n <\/p>\n
\n Kilmeade\u2019s friendly advice for Trump reflects MAGA media\u2019s view that the administration\u2019s handling of Saturday\u2019s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti is damaging a just and important immigration enforcement crackdown.\n <\/p>\n
\n Many pro-Trump TV shows, podcasters and commentators are defaulting to a defense of law enforcement \u2014 but fretting about how the wider public is reacting to the violent imagery from Minnesota.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt\u2019s time to de-escalate in Minneapolis,\u201d because the current enforcement tactics \u201care backfiring,\u201d the New York Post editorial board said in an editorial directed to \u201cMr. President\u201d Monday morning.\n <\/p>\n
\n The Post\u2019s conservative editors claimed the left \u201cwants a civil war\u201d and Trump needs to provide \u201ccalm leadership\u201d in response.\n <\/p>\n
\n Both the Post and Fox News are part of Rupert Murdoch\u2019s media empire, and Kilmeade read directly from the editorial on Monday\u2019s \u201cFox & Friends.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe bottom line is, these images are not the ones that are going to help you keep the majorities,\u201d Kilmeade said on air.\n <\/p>\n
\n In other words, the dominant conservative critique has been about so-called optics. It\u2019s been about narrative discipline \u2014 and how badly the administration is losing control of the visuals.\n <\/p>\n
\n MAGA-aligned media figures have argued that even hardliners like top White House aide Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have worsened the situation by branding Pretti a \u201cdomestic terrorist,\u201d inflaming the public and distracting from the deportations.\n <\/p>\n
\n In the immediate aftermath of Pretti\u2019s death on Saturday, Fox News shows and other staples of the MAGA media diet focused heavily on the Trump administration\u2019s assertions that Pretti was a danger to the federal officers on the scene.\n <\/p>\n
\n Fox correspondent Bill Melugin, who has covered immigration for the network for years and often gets promotional tips from Homeland Security officials, was quickly provided with a photo of the gun that Pretti was allegedly carrying. Melugin\u2019s post on X about the gun helped to advance the pro-Trump narrative on Saturday.\n <\/p>\n
\n Trump administration officials and allies swarmed the airwaves to blame Pretti for his own death remarkably quickly. Many of the claims, though, were at odds with the video evidence<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n As the weekend proceeded, some prominent MAGA media writers and hosts pointed out the contradictions and added skepticism about the government\u2019s claims.\n <\/p>\n \n This pushback was far from widespread, however. And some of the figures promoted easily disproven claims about the altercation. \u201cIt is not self-defense to run up on police and interfere with their operations and then draw a gun,\u201d podcaster Jack Posobiec wrote on X on Saturday.\n <\/p>\n \n Users on X added corrections to the post explaining that Pretti did not \u201crun up on police\u201d or \u201cdraw a gun.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n On Sunday and into Monday, many Trump-aligned commentators and influencers underscored the hostility that federal agents face in Minneapolis, ignoring any underlying reasons for the community\u2019s opposition.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe media and other Democrats clearly oppose federal immigration laws and their enforcement. It\u2019s pretty simple. And they are willing to burn the country down to keep the borders open,\u201d Mollie Hemingway, editor in chief of The Federalist, wrote on X.\n <\/p>\n \n However, there were notable expressions of concern about the \u201cmessaging,\u201d including the Trump administration\u2019s faulty claims about the circumstances of the shooting.\n <\/p>\n