Right-Wing Media Won’t Let Trump De-Escalate Minneapolis

Summary

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Bulwark Takes – "Right-Wing Media Won’t Let Trump De-Escalate Minneapolis"

Date: January 28, 2026
Host: Sam Stein (The Bulwark)
Guest: Will Sommer
Main Focus: The right-wing media’s reaction to Trump administration’s attempt to de-escalate after the Minneapolis incident, and how that shapes the administration’s actions and larger conservative discourse.

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Overview

This episode examines the conflict between the Trump administration’s efforts to moderate its response following the killing of protester Alex Preddy in Minneapolis, and the entrenched, uncompromising stance of the right-wing media ecosystem. Host Sam Stein and reporter Will Sommer dissect how MAGA media is fiercely pushing back against any sign of moderation, the bloodthirsty or callous reactions from influential conservative figures, and the broader implications for policymaking and public opinion within Trump’s sphere.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The MAGA Media Backlash Against Moderation

• Background: In the wake of Alex Preddy's murder during ICE protests, signals from the White House suggest a desire for distance and moderation. The administration appears to be reassigning ICE leadership in Minneapolis to tamp down the crisis.
• Right-Wing Media Response:
  • MAGA-aligned commentators and right-wing social media personalities lash out at even minimal attempts to moderate or show restraint.
  • They frame any attempt at compromise as a betrayal and a sign of unacceptable weakness.

Quote:
"They're getting upset over this, like, supposed moderation, because it's like the moderate option is Tom Homan and maybe not Greg Bovino, but they are."
– Will Sommer, [02:30]

• Deeper Dynamic: The media outcry is less about policy details than about a zero-sum, no-compromise worldview that considers any backtracking pure defeat.

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2. Zero-Sum Logic and the Outrage Machine

• Politics of Purity: For MAGA media and their followers, any sign of moderating or addressing errors is equated with capitulation to political enemies.
• Pressure on Trump: The insularity of this right-wing feedback loop makes it challenging for any administration policy recalibration without sparking accusations of weakness.

Quote:
"If you were to acknowledge any misstep whatsoever, essentially you're handing victory to the opposition…"
– Sam Stein, [04:06]

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3. Bloodthirsty and Empathy-Free Reactions to Protester’s Death

• Megyn Kelly’s Take: Openly expressed lack of sympathy for Alex Preddy and rationalized his killing by stating he interfered in government operations.

Quote:
"I know I'm supposed to feel sorry for Alex Preddy, but I don't... If I felt strongly enough...I would make my objections known by standing there without interfering. Because interfering is where you go south."
– Megyn Kelly (clip), [04:37]

• Sam Stein’s Reaction: He expresses shock at how openly indifferent or hostile these responses are.

Quote:
"To openly say you don't feel sorry that someone was shot to death, you got to have a little bit of, you know, an absence of some. Something in your core for you to say something like that."
– Sam Stein, [05:15]

• Will Sommer’s Analysis: This “crush our enemies” mentality typifies the current “new right.” Moral justifications are flexible depending on sides: “If it’s one of ours, we care; if not, who cares?”

Quote:
"This is really, I think, kind of the vibe of the second Trump administration and this, the broader kind of like the new right that J.D. Vance really represents..."
– Will Sommer, [05:49]

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4. Justifying Violence Through Rationalizations

• Greg Kelly’s Defense: Brandished a phone on-air suggesting an ICE agent could have mistaken it for a gun — framing misidentification as sufficient cause for deadly force.

Quote:
"Does that look like a gun? I think it does a little bit. It's a phone. It's black like most phones. That's crazy stuff."
– Greg Kelly (clip), [06:50]

• Sam and Will Respond: They note this is a deflection tactic seen often in right-aligned spaces, deflecting from actual events by shifting focus to hypothetical rationalizations.

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5. Right-Wing Echo Chamber and Its Political Effects

• Audience Capture:
  • Influencers face their own pressures not to appear “weak” or “compromising,” lest their audience turn on them.
  • Tim Pool’s internal struggle, voiced publicly, demonstrates this tension.

Quote:
"When these people come out, go, Tim's a bootlicker for defending ICE... 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..."
– Tim Pool (clip), [10:27]

• Implications for Trump:
  • The right-wing media demands maximalist loyalty and policy aggression, creating a comfort zone for the administration that lessens incentives for recalibration.
  • This cocoons the administration from political reality, potentially making them more prone to mistakes.

Quote:
"If he has 35% of the vote, but also, like, a huge chunk of the commentary at the loudest voices instinctively saying, just keep plowing forward, sir. Like, it gives him a comfort that I don't think serves him well politically."
– Sam Stein, [08:23]

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6. Media Sycophancy in the White House Press Room

• Example:
  • The first White House press question after the shooting, from a Gateway Pundit reporter, is about supposed hypocrisy involving Ashley Babbitt, ignoring the Minneapolis event’s specifics.

Quote:
"Where was that outrage when Ashley Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, was executed by Capitol Police officer Michael Byrd, who she posed no threat to in the U.S. capitol?"
– Gateway Pundit Reporter question (paraphrased by Will Sommer), [13:42]

• Sam’s Reaction: Finds this dereliction of journalistic duty shocking, calling it "bullshit" and lamenting squandered opportunity for real accountability.

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7. Organized Social Media Pressure and the Traveling ‘Outrage Circus’

• Influencer Dynamics:
  • Figures like Nick Sortor leverage their Twitter clout to trigger immediate and intense base reactions — essentially amplifying the base’s most reactionary instincts.
  • Pressure campaigns to “defend Bovino at all costs” and real-time protest footage keep the temperature high.

Quote:
"There is a real ... social media grassroots effort to pressure, I think the administration to keep up the heat of Minneapolis... he can kind of rile up the MAGA base."
– Will Sommer, [15:11]

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8. Why This Coverage Matters

• Influence Flows Both Ways:
  • Far-right voices don’t just mirror the base’s anger—they actively steer the administration through audience capture and a mutual feedback loop.
  • These dynamics shape real policy and political maneuvering within Trump’s team.

Quote:
"We're not just monitoring, you know, weirdos and randos on the Internet. These are incredibly influential people. They have huge audiences, and they have a lot of sway over how people in the administration think and act."
– Sam Stein, [16:23]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the New Right's Mentality:
  • "We just want to crush our enemies and we don't care how it happens." – Will Sommer [05:49]
• On Right-Wing Media’s Lack of Compromise:
  • "In for decades, right wing media has said essentially, like the idea of compromise at all...is bad. Like, you should get the maximum of what you can possibly get at every opportunity." – Will Sommer [08:53]
• On Tim Pool’s Justifications:
  • "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." – Tim Pool [10:27]
• On Why This Media Culture Is Problematic:
  • "It creates this cocoon that can be blinding for the administration..." – Sam Stein [12:12]
• On Press Accountability:
  • "[The Gateway Pundit]...just ruined. I mean, you have a real opportunity and real responsibility and you're using it for that. It's just bullshit." – Sam Stein [15:03]

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Important Segment Timestamps

• [01:37] – Episode begins; Background on Trump administration distancing itself from Minneapolis fallout
• [03:23] – Explaining the zero-sum, anti-compromise mentality
• [04:37] – Megyn Kelly’s callous defense of the killing, clip played
• [06:50] – Greg Kelly justifies ICE shooting, brandishes phone as “could be a gun”
• [08:53] – Right-wing media’s influence as an echo chamber for unyielding policy approaches
• [10:27] – Tim Pool rationalizes his position, internalizes accusations of “bootlicking”
• [13:42] – Gateway Pundit’s sycophantic question in White House briefing
• [15:11] – Role of social media influencers in escalating pressure
• [16:23] – Sam Stein on why this right-wing media pressure matters

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Episode Takeaway

The episode provides a sharp critique of the right-wing media’s intransigent reaction to any sign of restraint from the Trump administration, especially in the highly charged context of Minnesota’s protests and law enforcement actions. Sam Stein and Will Sommer argue that this media ecosystem doesn’t just echo the base—it actively prevents Trump from moderating, pressures policymakers into maximalist stances, and drowns out opportunity for accountability, debate, or empathy.

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Transcript

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[Andy & James (No Such Thing As A Fish Podcast Hosts)]

Hi, everybody, it's Andy and James here from your next favorite podcast. No such thing as a fish. That's right. We do fun facts. Yes, we do. James, give me a fact. Did you know that there is an extinct bandicoot whose official scientific name is Crash Bandicoot? Lovely. I didn't know that. Did you know, James, that Upper Egypt is technically below Lower Egypt? Incredible. Absolutely amazing. I would love to hear more about that. Well, all you have to do is go and listen to no Such thing as a Fish. Where will I find it? All over. Okay, bye. Bye.

[Sam Stein]

Hey, everybody, it's me, Sam Stein, managing at the Bulwark, and I'm here with Will Summer, and we are going to be talking about Minnesota Trump's efforts at a recalibration and how it's playing with the MAGA media crowd. Before we get into it, subscribe to our feed. So I don't have to tell you at the end of this podcast to subscribe, you should just subscribe now, even if it means leaving the podcast. Go. Go, subscribe. All right. Well, basically, last 24 hours been very interesting. So you have clear indications from the White House that they want distance from what happened with the Alex Preddy murder, that they feel like Trump's got to at least moderate a little bit. And he's tried. He put Tom Homan in there, Tom Holman's talking to Governor Walls, Mayor Fry, but the MAGA media crowd is not having it. So what is your kind of 30,000 foot assessment of how this is playing.

[Will Sommer]

I mean, I think there's this reaction. I mean, you know, it's crazy. They're getting upset over this, like, supposed moderation because it's like the moderate option is Tom Homan and maybe not Greg Bevino, but they are. I mean, there, we saw on Monday night there was this kind of revolt in right wing media, particularly among these kind of Twitter personalities who bounce around to different cities when there's a hotspot. And they were saying, you know, they're going to, you know, take Bovino's, you know, commander at large position or they're going to, they're going to punish Bovino for enforcing the law. And so we're seeing this backlash, I think, in this idea that there's kind of this clash between people who see deportations and like this mass deportation and really like this very cruel way in which it's carried out as kind of the keystone of the Trump agenda and the most important thing. And then other people who are saying, well, geez, do we really want to sink everything else we want to get done or over this?

[Sam Stein]

Well, isn't it more that they just think any sort of moderation or compromise or attempts to battle political pressure is an inherent sign of weakness and they control all levers of government and they, you know, they should just do what they want.

[Will Sommer]

I mean, I think that's definitely part of it. I mean, that there's this sense that, you know, if Tim Walls and, and the mayor and in Minneapolis get to declare victory or the sense that their ICE has rolled back, that, that, that Trump is basically signaling, you know, that the administration left, you know, as these people see it, that these leftist activists will have defeated them. And so I think they really want, you know, at least to, to keep things at the level they were under Greg Bovino and maybe surge even more.

[Sam Stein]

Yeah, it's like a zero sum game for them. If you were to acknowledge any misstep whatsoever, essentially you're handing victory to the opposition. Some of the reactions have been like, I struggle to find the right adjective, shockingly bloodthirsty or indifferent or, you know, devoid of empathy. I'll play a couple. Let's start with Meg and Kelly, who, I shouldn't be surprised, I guess, by this, but truly, like just saying, I don't give a, that this person was killed and justifying it in the most ridiculous fashion. Let's play the clip.

[Megyn Kelly]

I, I know I'm supposed to feel sorry for Alex Preddy, 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. 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.

[Sam Stein]

Look, it just to openly say you don't feel sorry that someone was shot to death, you got to have a little bit of, you know, an absence of some. Something in your core for you to say something like that. But that seems to be a particular strand of reaction on the right.

[Will Sommer]

Well, I mean, you know, Megyn Kelly, I think this is an innovation in constitutional law that the First Amendment doesn't apply to shouting. You know, at that point, like, if you're shouting, you know, it's. Safety's off, you know, it's. You know, they can kill you if they want.

[Sam Stein]

I mean, it's crazy.

[Will Sommer]

Crazy. I mean, this is really, I think, kind of the vibe of the second Trump administration and this, the broader kind of like the new right that I think J.D. vance really represents, which is, you know, because you might say, well, wouldn't you guys be upset if, you know, someone on the right had been, you know, legally carrying a gun had been executed by the government? And they would say, well, yeah, we'd be upset then because he'd be a Trump, he'd be one of our guys, but that's this one of your guys. So we don't really care. And, I mean, I think she's making that clear. The. It's just really like this kind of bloodthirsty, this attitude of, like, we just want to crush our enemies and we don't care how it happens.

[Sam Stein]

And then there's also the sort of rationalization for ICE's actions, like, of course they would shoot this person. He interfered with them. I don't know. In this case, Alex Preddy was protecting a woman that they had pushed and then got pepper sprayed. But he interfered in their operation. Of course he should be shot. I mean, it's the. It's absurd. But then you see, like, Greg Kelly, for instance, who brandishes. Let's just play the video of Greg Kelly sort of trying to rationalize why an ICE agent might just decide, you know, what, that could be a gun. I'm going to shoot that person.

[Greg Kelly / Tim Pool]

I want to show you something. Does that look like a gun? I think it does a little bit. It's a phone. It's black like most phones. That's crazy stuff.

[Sam Stein]

I just keep in mind this guy is the son of an ex police commissioner.

[Will Sommer]

Yeah, that's a very. It strikes me as very kind of like New York debate. It's like, you know, what was the suspect holding or something like that?

[Sam Stein]

Hey, could have been a phone.

[Will Sommer]

Exactly. I mean, it's crazy. And I mean, there is a lot of this, you know, I've been seeing from, you know, people about Stuckey was saying, who's a conservative commentator? Well, you know, look, he was impeding traffic, you know, which I don't even think was really true. But this idea that, you know, I feel like these people are not really, like, thinking through the steps here, because I think with, like, a lot of things we're seeing in this administration, it's assumed that they'll just kind of always be in power or that Democrats would never turn this on them. And so it's this idea. Well, look, I mean, you know, if you're in the way, if you're obstructing our policy, even by shouting or whistling, you know, we can, you know, government can feel free to shoot you.

[Sam Stein]

I don't think everyone is doing this. I don't want to overstate it.

[Will Sommer]

Right.

[Sam Stein]

Like, there's been some people on the right who have honestly grappled with this and said, looked at it five different ways. You know, even I think Eric Erickson, but I don't want to butcher it, but I think Erickson was like, I've looked at this a million ways. I didn't want to take pretty. Pretty side. But I feel like this was unjustified. Like, there's people who are grappling with it, even in their way, to sort of try to bend over backwards for the administration. But you are seeing a lot of people just try to figure out a way to circle the wagon and who. And also get mad that Trump would, you know, for instance, push aside Bovino. Right. Like, they get mad at that, and it creates this kind of echo chamber. I think that you. You've written about this a little bit, we've talked about this, but it doesn't do Trump a good service here. Right. Like, if he has 35% of the vote, but also, like, a huge chunk of the commentary at the loudest voices instinctively saying, just keep plowing forward, sir. Like, it gives him a comfort that I don't think serves him well politically.

[Will Sommer]

Yeah, I mean, I think this is the crux of it. I think Right wing media right now, we're seeing them sort of out of step with the administration. And what Trump appears to at least momentarily want to do, which is moderate, pull back, maybe reign in Christy Noemi, Corey Lewandowski at DHS and put kind of get Greg Bevino out of there as. Because he's really become the face of this disaster. Put Tom Homan in. Meanwhile, these guys, as you're saying, in for decades, right wing media has said essentially, like the idea of compromise at all, even legislative compromise is bad. Like, you should get the maximum of what you can possibly get at every opportunity. You know, this can seem far afield, but things like a shutdown fight or the debt ceiling just don't compromise ever. And so for someone like Megyn Kelly or Greg Kelly, there's really no reason, I mean, for them, they're not looking at midterms or they're not looking at, you know, all these other things that, that they could face for backlash year because their audiences want this. I mean, they, they, they, they wanted the deportations and now they want to see them carried out. Even though at this point, like, the deportation seems so almost like separate from the policy objective in Minneapolis, which just seems to be sort of generally terrorizing a liberal city.

[Sam Stein]

Yeah, exactly. But there are occasionally these cases where you can see sort of one of the right wing media figures kind of grapple with both the audience capture element, which you're talking about, but also the, the public perception element where they know that they, they, they're getting criticized for instinctively supporting whatever Trump does. So let's play the Tim Pool one because this one really sort of got at the tensions where he's having an internal monologue, but he's saying it out loud.

[Greg Kelly / Tim Pool]

When these people come out, go, tim's a bootlicker for defending ice. 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 it, who voted for it too, we're all wearing the boots.

[Sam Stein]

You're the one crying, he's not licking anybody. That's good to know.

[Will Sommer]

We got to rethink this. I mean, I think it's really striking with Tim Pool because he, in his case, he's such a, you know, he got big during Occupy Wall Street. He's the punk guy, dresses like A skater, he literally has, like. He puts out punk music that are like, you know, enemy of the system type stuff. And then for him to be saying. I mean, he comes off there really, like, kind of like the pipsqueak who teams up with the bully, and he's like, get him, big guy. You know, I mean, it's really crazy and timbal in a way. Like, I mean, this is a guy who's constantly saying, oh, my gosh, there's going to be a civil war. Like, whenever, you know, there's like a liberal court victory or something like that, he goes, oh, this country can't stand it. And then he. Then he's out there. You know, when his side is in power and has the upper hand, he's like, just. Just wipe them out. You know, I mean, the other sort of the takeaway here, I mean, he's saying, oh, this is my boot. Whatever. I mean, the implication there is, you know, this is also me shooting these people. Essentially. The. You know, I approve of that as well.

[Sam Stein]

Well, the first part is what stood out to me was when he's like, they're saying Tim's a bootlicker. It's like, clearly he's internalizing some of the criticism of him.

[Will Sommer]

Yeah, no, I mean, he's also like, look, as someone who's followed Tim Pool's career very closely, I mean, he's someone who I think is very sensitive, and, you know, he lives out in this compound. I mean, he's very, I think, into his image. And, you know, there is this clear clash between. Between, I think, what he presents and how eager he is to cheer this on.

[Sam Stein]

Again, just to. To reiterate why this matters. So the. The. What we call in the. In the business, and the nut graph of it all, like, yes, it. It's important that these people have incredible voices, incredible reach. What they say is going to influence a lot of opinion, but they're also reflecting a lot of opinion out there. But to get back to our original point, it creates this cocoon that can be blinding for the administration where they feel like, oh, okay, we don't actually have to apologize or we don't have to step back, or we have, you know, enough support out there that we. We can just keep doing what we're doing in Minneapolis. And that can filter all the way into the White House press room itself. I mean, this is. There's been presidents who have begrudgingly confided that it's important to have an independent media precisely because they will present you and push you in ways that you're not comfortable with. They won't just be yes men and yes women and you don't have to live in your own, you know, made up universe that's not this administration. And as example A, I'm going to give you the Gateway pundits, White House reporter asking the first question of Carolyn Levitt on Monday's press briefing. Keep in mind, this is the first time the administration, the White House press secretary got a question about what happened over the weekend. It is the prime real estate for a reporter to press the White House on one of the most gut wrenching storylines in recent memory. And this is what the reporter asks.

[Will Sommer]

First, with respect, with respect to the shooting in Minneapolis. We're seeing massive outrage from mainstream media in the left. But I'm just wondering, where was that outrage when Ashley Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, was executed by Capitol Police officer Michael Byrd, who she posed no threat to in the U.S. capitol?

[Sam Stein]

All right, I didn't expect much from Gateway, but like, that blew me away. Just totally irresponsible. Like, have some fucking self respect if you're gonna go there. Just try, just try a little bit and don't be a doormat. But who is this guy anyway? I don't even know who this guy is.

[Will Sommer]

I think it's a Jordan Conradson. I think.

[Sam Stein]

I think that's right.

[Will Sommer]

There's sort of this universe of like the Gateway pundit himself is a guy named Jim Hoft in St. Louis and he has sort of a universe of cronies who kind of pop in and out of the Pentagon in the White House asking, you know, very, very sycophantic questions. Administration. I mean, it is crazy. I mean, it is crazy. There is this effort, I think, to constantly say, you know, oh, well, I mean, the January six being the big example of, you know, well, you know, Ashley Babbitt was shot. How unfair was that? You know, I mean, they still want. I believe Gateway pundit has been a big advocate for January six reparations for those who are convicted and tried there. So, I mean, it's a whole different world and I think it's one that the administration is really happy to have represented in the briefing room.

[Sam Stein]

Yeah, but it's so nutty and it just ruined. I mean, you have a real opportunity and real responsibility and you're using it for that. It's just bullshit.

[Will Sommer]

The one other thing I would add here is like, there is a real like, aspect of like sort of a social media grassroots effort to pressure, I think the administration to Keep up the heat of Minneapolis. I mean, I think Nick Sortor, who we haven't mentioned yet, is a big part of that. This is a guy who's kind of part of this traveling circus. He was big at the ICE protests, and he got kind of roughed up, and then. Then he went to Minneapolis and sort of followed in the wake of Nick Shirley and the fraud stuff. And so he was really tweeting one of the first to tweet on Monday night. Oh, like, they're coming for Bovino. We got to defend Bovino at all costs. And I think. I mean, he seems to have some legitimate Border patrol sourcing, and so he's able to sort of apply that pressure, whereas in the past, you know, this might come out through a background. Background briefing to the New York Times, and they say Bovino's out, and he can kind of rile up the MAGA base. I mean, you know, I think whereas the administration, broadly, is feeling like, a little like, oh, gosh, what have we done in Minneapolis? We got to back off a little. This doesn't look good. Nick Sortor, as of today, was posting video of there's a protest outside of hotel where ICE Border patrol was supposedly staying. The people inside, I don't know if they're government agents or not, were mooning the protesters. So, I mean, that is the kind of stuff that they're still, like, really riled up about it. They're really into it, you know, and.

[Sam Stein]

This underscores why this stuff matters. We're not just monitoring, you know, weirdos and randos on the Internet. These are incredibly influential people. They have huge audiences, and they have a lot of sway over how people in the administration think and act. I mean, this administration is very much committed to feeding that online community that they've fostered and built. So it matters. And that's why we employ Will. Otherwise, I really wouldn't want him here. All right, well, thanks so much. Well, thanks so much, man. I appreciate it. Everyone should really, honestly subscribe to his newsletter, False Flag. It's awesome. Subscribe to Bulwark Takes, where you get great stuff like this, and we will talk to you later.

[Andy & James (No Such Thing As A Fish Podcast Hosts)]

Hi, everybody. It's Andy and James here from your next favorite podcast, no such thing as a fish. That's right. We do fun facts. Yes, we do. James, give me a fact. Did you know that there is an extinct bandicoot whose official scientific name is Crash Bandicoot? Lovely. I didn't know that. Did you know, James, that Upper Egypt is technically below Lower Egypt? Incredible. Absolutely amazing. I would love to hear more about that. Well, all you have to do is go and listen to no such thing as a fish. Where will I find it? I'll let all over. Okay. Bye. Bye.