The Bulwark Podcast: Bill Kristol – The Murder of Alex Pretti

Date: January 26, 2026
Host(s): Tim Miller, Bill Kristol
Topic: The killing of Alex Pretti by state agents in Minneapolis and the political, legal, and moral aftermath

Overview

This episode is a raw, impassioned response to the killing of Alex Pretti, a VA nurse, by federal agents (CBP/ICE) in Minneapolis. Tim Miller, Bill Kristol, and guest Andrew react with anger, grief, and alarm to the event, analyzing the incident itself, the immediate government and media reaction, the broader implications for American democracy and civil rights, and the insufficient political response. The episode is structured as a series of personal rants, factual clarifications, and pointed critiques of both the Trump administration and the Democratic opposition.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Emotional State and the Gravity of the Incident

• Mood: The tone is angry, shocked, and deeply unsettled. Miller admits to rage-tweeting and even crying for the first time during the Trump era. (02:03)
  • “I think I had my first cry of the Trump administration, too… It's fucking terrible what they've done.” (Bill Kristol, 02:03)
• Bill Kristol: Emphasizes the importance of a response that matches the gravity of the crime.

2. Factual Breakdown of the Killing

• Incident Recap:
  • Saturday morning: Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old VA nurse, is videotaping CBP agents in South Minneapolis.
  • Pretti is pepper-sprayed, pushed to the ground, surrounded by seven agents, disarmed, then shot ten times (including in the back of the head). Some agents fled the scene, others taunted bystanders, and ICE attempted to prevent local police from investigating (03:10–04:43).
  • Key quote: “He is still videotaping Pretti and gets in between the agent and the woman ... and then someone shoots him in the back of the head. And then another guy starts shooting him from the front, and 10 shots are fired.” (Bill Kristol, 03:10)
• Agents Identification: The agents were confirmed as CBP, though ICE is often used as shorthand (05:00).
• Immediate Federal Response: The administration quickly released misleading and prejudicial information to Fox News and elsewhere, accusing Pretti of intending a massacre and smearing his character with falsehoods even before video evidence emerged (05:23).

3. The Culture of Lying and Institutional Rot

• Systemic Cover-up:
  • The hosts see not individual error but institutional rot and deliberate cover-up, drawing comparisons to authoritarian police states:
    “If the organization goes into 100% ... flat out lying, slandering this man ... it does say a lot.” (Andrew, 07:15)
• Contrast with Local Police: Minneapolis police had not discharged firearms in over a year, while the only two homicides in 2026 involved federal agents (08:52–09:16).
  “In this year ... there’s been a single homicide committed by a resident of Minneapolis. Two now, two homicides by the masked agents of the state.” (Tim Miller, 09:06)

4. Call for Accountability and Political Action

• Demand for Immediate Removal:
  “The response to this ... needs to be get these fucking people out of Minneapolis immediately.” (Bill Kristol, 09:35)
  • Host dismisses token responses like appointing Tom Homan, calls for genuine repudiation, and insists on indictments and accountability.
  • Describes agents as “literally secret police” and raises alarm about the lack of transparency even regarding the shooter’s identity (12:00).
  • “We are living in a country right now where masked agents of the state roam the streets, shoot people, kill them, American citizens then flee, and then they’re protected by the government.” (Tim Miller, 12:00)

5. National Leadership and Political Culpability

• Leadership Enabling Violence:
  • Administration leaders are seen as actively encouraging not just violence, but a culture of impunity and brutality.
  • Criticism extends “up to the President of the United States” and explicitly names individuals like Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski (13:25).
• Vice Presidential Response:
  • Hosts deride J.D. Vance’s “fabricated” defense of ICE agents, who focus on their own “hurt feelings” rather than the murder (14:41).
  • “That was J.D. Vance’s response to the secret police killing somebody... The poor secret police people...” (Tim Miller, 14:59)

6. Civil Rights and Hypocrisy on the Second Amendment

• Core Irony:
  • Pretti was killed while peacefully exercising First and Second Amendment rights in a legal manner.
  • Guests lambast administration talking points as hypocritical, with Scott Bessant (Treasury Secretary, referred to mockingly) and others squirming to justify the killing while selectively discarding gun rights rhetoric (20:55–21:46).
  • “If the bad guys are carrying guns, if the libs are carrying guns, we get to kill them. That’s basically where they’ve landed.” (Tim Miller, 21:30)
  • “This was a good guy with a gun trying to protect people from a tyrannical government. That’s what Alex Pretti does. He should be the poster boy for them and instead they’re smearing him...” (Tim Miller, 23:30)

7. Democratic and Republican Responses: Too Little, Too Late

• Republican Complicity:
  • Most are at best “a little bit queasy” but lack courage to oppose, with even rare critics not calling for the expulsion or unmasking of the agents (25:04–26:00).
• Democratic Weakness:
  • Hosts are frustrated with both sides but especially Democrats for their timidity.
  • Schumer’s “restrain, reform, and restrict ICE” platform is dismissed as insufficient. Miller insists, “Democrats should be in Minnesota marching with people, and they should have a stated … position of we’ll just keep the government shut down until you get these fucking goons out…” (33:24)
  • Positive attention is given to Rep. Ro Khanna’s concrete, uncompromising reform proposals (36:54).

8. Corporate and Donor Culpability

• Naming Names: Lists major corporations and donors still supporting Trump after the crackdown began (39:45–40:10, see Notable Quotes).
  • Tim Cook (Apple) is shamed for ignoring the issue in favor of PR appearances.
  • “It’s not just that you’re not speaking out, you’re funding the people that are doing it and partying with them in DC.” (Bill Kristol, 41:24)

9. Broader Pattern of State Violence and Impunity

• Harassment Beyond Killing:
  • Numerous lesser-known abuses: menacing of passersby, unlawful arrests, physical intimidation, disregard for civil rights (46:25–47:53).
  • The trope of “absolute immunity” for agents is attacked as the antithesis of a free society.

10. Remembering Alex Pretti and the Moral Imperative

• Personal Reflections:
  • Alex Pretti honored as both a hero and a victim; his own words (as a VA nurse) on freedom and sacrifice are read.
  • “May we never forget and always remember our brothers and sisters who have served so that we may enjoy the gift of freedom...” (Pretti family member quoting Alex Pretti, 49:47)
  • The “moral, not just political, imperative” to resist and stop what’s happening is affirmed:
    “The moral imperative to stop what’s happening, I’ve never felt it more strongly.” (Andrew, 50:22)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Emotional Response
“I think I had my first cry of the Trump administration, too… It's fucking terrible what they've done.”
— Bill Kristol (02:03)

On the Killing Itself
“He is still videotaping Pretti and gets in between the agent and the woman ... and then someone shoots him in the back of the head. And then another guy starts shooting him from the front, and 10 shots are fired.”
— Bill Kristol (03:10)

On Government Rot and Lying
“If the organization goes into 100% ... flat out lying, slandering this man ... it does say a lot.”
— Andrew (07:15)

On the Second Amendment Hypocrisy
“If the bad guys are carrying guns, if the libs are carrying guns, we get to kill them. That’s basically where they’ve landed.”
— Tim Miller (21:30)

On Lawlessness and Authoritarianism
“In a free country, you don’t get to anonymously assassinate citizens on the street, okay? There has to be accountability.”
— Tim Miller (12:00)

On Corporate Complicity
“It’s not just that you’re not speaking out, you’re funding the people that are doing it and partying with them in DC.”
— Bill Kristol (41:24)

On Civil Liberties
“They’re just totally shitting on the first, second and fourth amendments and murdering people for exercising and defending those amendments.”
— Bill Kristol (24:08)

On the Moral Imperative
“The moral imperative to stop what’s happening, I’ve never felt it more strongly.”
— Andrew (50:22)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:21–06:03 — Incident summary; initial rage and context
• 06:24–07:15 — Discussion of state lies, cover-ups, and systemic rot
• 08:43–09:16 — Comparison to local police, highlighting unnecessary federal violence
• 09:35–11:10 — Calls for removal of agents and critique of political responses
• 12:00–12:45 — Outrage over lack of accountability, anonymity of killers
• 14:41–15:07 — Critique of VP J.D. Vance’s response
• 17:18–20:13 — Bill of rights at stake (First, Second Amendment issues)
• 21:29–24:08 — Second Amendment hypocrisy, gun rights only for “the right people”
• 25:04–26:00 — Political cowardice among Republicans; Wall Street Journal’s tepid criticism
• 33:24–34:48 — Democratic response: what should be done, what is being done
• 39:45–41:24 — Corporate enablers and the politics of donor complicity
• 46:25–47:53 — Harassment and violence beyond the killings: pattern of abuse
• 49:47–50:22 — Alex Pretti remembered; reading from his eulogy
• 50:22–50:57 — Moral imperative; closing reflections

Final Notes

Tone: The episode is direct, informal, and profane, refusing to euphemize or soften the reality of state violence. Host and guests move between journalistic detail, harsh humor, moral outrage, and tactical advice.
Takeaway: The murder of Alex Pretti is painted not as an isolated abuse, but a symptom of profound breakdown in American government: federal law enforcement acting as an occupying force, political leadership across the spectrum failing to meet the moment, and national institutions—corporate and political—enabling further erosion of basic rights. The episode closes with a call to match the gravity of the crime with an uncompromising demand for immediate accountability and systemic change.

End of summary.