Cross posted to the MRC's NewsBusters blog
On Friday's The Moment, MS NOW host Katy Tur gave a commentary complaining about President Donald Trump's recent statement calling out Somali-linked violence in Minnesota. As she led a discussion about the President's words, she and MS NOW contributor Peter Baker both acted completely oblivious to what the President was likely referring to.
This comes as their network has blatantly ignored both Somali gang violence in the state as well as the arrest of a Somali American who was allegedly planning a mass killing at the Mall of America.
Tur began by showing clip of Trump's presidential announcement speech from 2015 in which he complained about criminals crossing the border into the U.S. She then recalled:
Donald Trump announced himself as a presidential contender by mining what we thought at the time was rock bottom. "Here I am, I want to be President. Your life is bad, and here's who you should blame." That was 11 years ago, and it never got better. The candidate went lower and lower and lower and lower -- more offensive, more degrading, more dehumanizing.
Then, even though Trump has only referred to violent criminals as "animals," she continued:
"All immigrants are animals," he said. "Those from Central America, Africa and Asia are poisoning the blood of our country. Haitians are eating your dogs and cats. Some," he implied, "might be carrying AIDS." And now, "Somalis in Minnesota are ruining your life."
After reading a statement from Trump this week about Somali Americans being violent in Minnesota, Tur brought aboard MS NOW contributors Peter Baker and McKay Coppins along with MS NOW analyst Ayman Mohyeldin. Turning to Baker, she posed:
Again, he started at rock bottom, and he only goes lower and lower and lower. He's had to clarify himself recently on San Diego and Los Angeles, for instance. Do we have a sense of what he was actually intending to say about Somalis in Minnesota?
Making no mention of any of the recent violence in Minnesota or even the arrest of an 18-year-old Somali American who was allegedly inspired by ISIS to plot a terrorist attack, Baker responded:
I think it's pretty clear what he's saying about Somalis in Minnesota. He's saying that they're horrible people, that they're murderers and thieves and rapists and so on. ... he has attacked Somali Americans in the past, but this one paints a very wide brush, you know, across an entire immigrant population, most of whom, of course, are here, you know, hard working and law abiding citizens as -- as are most immigrants. And I think that he just doesn't make any distinctions between anybody who has done something wrong and whole swaths of people.
By contrast, on Thursday's Fox & Friends, at 7:34 a.m. co-host Lawrence Jones recalled:
So an 18-year-old Minnesota man is under arrest and accused of plotting a mass casualty attack at the mall of America. Newly filed court documents reveal that the FBI had been tracking him for months. Documents show alleged conversations about joining a terrorist group in Somalia and eventually carrying out an attack here in the United States.
In the same segment, Jones and Town Hall's Dustin Grage recounted that, earlier this month, Somali gang members had a shootout near a high school football game, leading to discussions about why there has been a recent increase in gang activity within the state's Somali population.
The terrorist plot was also covered a couple of other times during the three-hour show.
By contrast, half an hour earlier, at 7:01 a.m., on the same day's Morning Joe, MS NOW co-host Mika Brzezinski fretted over ICE agents giving their agents gloves that deliver electric shocks to help handle violent situations. She went so far as to call agents "stupid" for needing such equipment:
Critics warn the gloves give ICE another weapon to intimidate and brutalize people. ... I don't think it's the ICE agents who are worried about being safe, and it's the people that they're bashing car windows to grab them and drag them out, pin them down on the ground, bend their legs back, injure them often killing them. So I don't know -- what, they can't operate their guns, so they have to get a shock glove because they're so stupid with their guns that they don't know the difference between a gun and a phone, and whether or not to walk in front of a car while it's moving.
Transcript follows:
MS NOW's The Moment with Katy Tur
October 9, 2026
3:01 p.m. Eastern
DONALD TRUMP: When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. They're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. There are rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we're getting, and it only makes common sense. It only makes common sense. They're sending us not the right people. It's coming from more than Mexico. It's coming from all over South and Latin America, and it's coming probably, probably from the Middle East.
KATY TUR: Good to be with you. I'm Katy Tur. Donald Trump announced himself as a presidential contender by mining what we thought at the time was rock bottom. "Here I am, I want to be President. Your life is bad, and here's who you should blame." That was 11 years ago, and it never got better. The candidate went lower and lower and lower and lower -- more offensive, more degrading, more dehumanizing.
"All immigrants are animals," he said. "Those from Central America, Africa and Asia are poisoning the blood of our country. Haitians are eating your dogs and cats. Some," he implied, "might be carrying AIDS." And now, "Somalis in Minnesota are ruining your life."
Quote, "The once great state of Minnesota is being taken over by Somali immigrants. There's violence, murder and mayhem all over the state. The people of Minnesota must fight back. You have been robbed and abandoned by your state government. The Somalians should not be allowed to get away with what they're doing. They view you as weak and stupid people. Fight back. Minnesota, fight back."
Some online read this as the President of the United States trying to incite a race riot. Regardless of the full intention, it does reek of desperation. According to the polls, the President is losing. People do not like his policies. Republicans are trailing, and nothing so far has worked to turn it around -- not dangling free money, not declaring a golden age, not belligerent campaign-style videos dressed up as patriotic PSAs.
So the President seems to be turning to fear like he did back in 2015. "The Mexicans are raping and drugging you," he suggests. "The Somalis are robbing and murdering you. It's the illegal immigrants who are making housing unaffordable," he claims, "turning your main streets into foreign countries, stealing your elections."
Donald Trump can't make your life better. Americans have been clear. They don't feel he's helping them any longer. That's what they say. So is this fear tactic the only one left that he has to scare people, to turn people against each other, to divide and conquer? The answer now lies with the American public. Will Americans judge him on what he says is wrong with America, or what he's actually done to make it better?
Joining us, MS NOW analyst Ayman Mohyeldin; New York Times chief White House correspondent and MS NOW contributor Peter Baker; and staff writer at The Atlantic, and MS NOW contributor McKay Coppins. All right, Peter, again, he started at rock bottom, and he only goes lower and lower and lower. He's had to clarify himself recently on San Diego and Los Angeles, for instance. Do we have a sense of what he was actually intending to say about Somalis in Minnesota?
PETER BAKER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: I think it's pretty clear what he's saying about Somalis in Minnesota. He's saying that they're horrible people, that they're murderers and thieves and rapists and so on. I mean, it's a -- it's a, you know, he has attacked Somali Americans in the past, but this one paints a very wide brush, you know, across an entire immigrant population, most of whom, of course, are here, you know, hard working and law abiding citizens as -- as are most immigrants. And I think that he just doesn't make any distinctions between anybody who has done something wrong and whole swaths of people.
It's a way of of alienating -- it's a way of galvanizing his base. Perhaps it's a way of, you know, fomenting divisions, which he has always done. It's hard to see what the particular calculation is in this case. It's not like Minnesota is a swing state where he's going to actually, you know, bring any Republicans over the -- over the finish line for him. It's just a way of -- of reminding people of the same kind of thing he talked about in that debate two years ago there. You know, the Haitians,
they're eating your cats and your dogs." It's just a way of stirring up a lot of uncertainty, anger and popular resentment.
TUR: Well, what's he trying to do? I mean, he says, "Minnesota fight back. Fight." What does fight mean? Fight how?
AYMAN MOHYELDIN: That's a really good question, and I don't know. All I know is that he's the most powerful man in the world. He has a legion of followers. People will listen to those words, and some will interpret it as a call to action.
TUR: Well, the last time he said, "Fight, fight, fight, fight," was ahead of January 6th.
MOHYELDIN: Correct. And so that's why I was going to say -- I was just going to get to that point. It's like his words actually do have consequences. I don't know what's in his mind. I don't know what's in his heart. I know how people are going to hear those words. And, to your point, there is something particularly unique about Somalians that he's going after. They're black, they're Muslim, they're African, and they live in the United States. And that is a trifecta for Donald Trump's bigotry and hatred.
So it's no different than when he's gone after Haitians. It's no different than when he's gone after Mexicans. The only group of people he doesn't seem to care about when they are immigrants to this country are white South Africans that he allege are suffering a genocide in South Africa. So my point is, it is clear that Donald Trump -- and we're starting to see the messaging from other Republican corners that the caravans are coming.
We all remember the caravans, right? As we get closer to an election, there's always got to be a fear factor that Donald Trump and the Republicans try to get Americans to worry about -- to distract them from what the issues are. If you can get enough people scared, if you can get enough people afraid, if you can get enough people to turn on each other and turn on their communities, you can direct their anger to that as opposed to the issues that actually matter.
(...)
MS NOW's Morning Joe
October 8, 2026
7:01 a.m.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: So a previously unreleased study by the U.S. Army confirms that electric shock gloves that were recently purchased by ICE work by inflicting intense pain and fear. Additionally, ICE leaders were aware of those findings before signing a $16.7 million contract to purchase 6,000 pairs of the gloves in August. That's according to records obtained by the watchdog group American Oversight and shared with the Associated Press. The 2024 study took place at a military prison in Kansas and found participants touched by the gloves, experienced, quote, "fatigue, soreness and excessive apprehensiveness to being shocked again."
ICE calls the gloves, quote, "distraction and de-escalation devices" that are safer than other non-lethal weapons to subdue people subject to arrest and deportation, as well as protesters who create civil disturbances. ICE argues that the gloves will help ensure quick compliance, thus helping keep agents safer and prevent the potential use of lethal force. Critics warn the gloves give ICE another weapon to intimidate and brutalize people.
And just saying, I don't think it's the ICE agents who are worried about being safe, and it's the people that they're bashing car windows to grab them and drag them out, pin them down on the ground, bend their legs back, injure them often killing them. So I don't know -- what, they can't operate their guns, so they have to get a shock glove because they're so stupid with their guns that they don't know the difference between a gun and a phone, and whether or not to walk in front of a car while it's moving. I don't know.
JONATHAN LEMIRE: Just so many questions raised about the inadequate training that so many of these new agents have received there, and now they're compensating with devices like this.
BRZEZINSKI: It's just the beginning of so many things that are so wrong with this situation and, in many cases, completely unlawful.
(...)
Fox & Friends
October 8, 2026
7:34 a.m. Eastern
LAWRENCE JONES: So an 18-year-old Minnesota man is under arrest and accused of plotting a mass casualty attack at the mall of America. Newly filed court documents reveal that the FBI had been tracking him for months. Documents show alleged conversations about joining a terrorist group in Somalia and eventually carrying out an attack here in the United States.
The suspect allegedly said he couldn't wait to kill non-believers and set October 24th as the day for the attack, saying there would be, quote, "a lot of people." He sent an FBI informant a link to an event at the mall of America. This arrest comes as Minnesota law enforcement leaders demand a new approach to Somali gang violence in the Twin Cities. Listen.
BOOKER HODGES, BLOOMINGTON POLICE CHIEF: This is going to be your outfit. We will find you, you are going to jail, we are going to lock you up. (editing jump) We've had gangs of all different ethnicities, but right now we are dealing with gangs who are Somali Americans.
DAWANNA WITT, HENNEPIN COUNTY SHERIFF: We know we used to have a gang strike force here in Minnesota that has pretty much disseminated, right? But it's time to bring it back under better leadership, and we can't take our foot off the gas.
JONES: Let's bring in Town Hall columnist based in Minnesota Dustin Grage. Dustin, thanks so much for joining the program. I want to go back to what the police chief said. He said, "Look, we've dealt with gangs from all different communities, but what I'm dealing with right now, it's gangs in the Somali community." What is he talking about?
DUSTIN GRAGE, TOWN HALL: Yeah, what he's talking about, Lawrence, is over the last week, in particular, we've seen a massive spike in Somali gang violence, and that's what people have been saying. It's been breaking through to normal people who normally don't pay attention to politics, and everyone's been saying, "Somali gangs, we have to address this." So what does the legacy media immediately start to go and do? "Hey, we have to stop calling them Somali gangs -- we just have to be calling them gangs, it's going to put all these people under a microscope, it's going to hurt their community."
But what happens not even 24 hours later after this is all put -- perpetrated by the Islamic media here? We have an Islamic terrorist literally threatening to shoot up the Mall of America.
(...)
The big story this last week ultimately was we actually had a homecoming game. One of these Somali gangs ended up shooting out each other in front of the football game. They ended up evacuating the entire stadium -- thousands of people here potentially affected. And later on, they actually ended up canceling the homecoming dance as well -- an event that wasn't affected by all of this because of the Somali gang violence. So this is becoming a massive problem. It's happening in grocery store parking lots, gas station parking lots -- five miles, again, away from this high school homecoming game.
And then, just 15 miles down the road, it's happening in Bloomington, and, of course, we have this actual terrorist threat at the Mall of America not far from here. So -- and it's bleeding into these affluent communities, and I think that's ultimately why it's getting the attention because, ultimately, over the last decade, we've had this problem in Minneapolis, but, because it's in the southern metro now, people are finally paying attention.
. steve malzberg
