NYT Columnist Thomas Friedman Fawns Over How Minnesota ‘Beat’ Trump’s ICE Crackdown: ‘The Most Remarkable Act of Civic Courage’

Thomas Friedman applauded his home state of Minnesota for fighting back against President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration on Sunday, both in his latest column in The New York Times and during an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press.

Friedman told moderator Kristen Welker that he was awestruck by Minnesotans who clashed with and protested against ICE.

“It was actually the most remarkable act of civic courage by men and women not in uniform that I’ve ever seen in this country,” Friedman said.

He made a similar claim in his NYT column, which celebrated how Minnesotans “beat” Trump and those running his immigration enforcement operation. Friedman explained he went back to Minnesota and saw how the locals were “propelled” by the act of “neighboring” — or alerting “the good people next door” that ICE was coming.

Friedman explained:

Not because I favor illegal immigration, but because I oppose the fundamental indecency of President Trump and Stephen Miller and the blessedly now departed Kristi Noem trying to fulfill their daily quota for evicting illegal immigrants by arresting my neighbors, most of whom work hard, pay taxes, go to church or mosque and help me dig out my car from the snow in winter.

His column and MTP appearance come after Renee Good and Alex Pretti were shot and killed by immigration agents in Minnesota earlier this year — which sparked a number of anti-ICE rallies from coast-to-coast. It also led to some Democratic lawmakers calling for ICE to be abolished. 

Friedman on Meet the Press said his view of “America First” is different than Trump’s version because it is not “selfish.” Instead, it is focused on protecting the “radically diverse” people who live in the USA, whether they are legal or illegally in the country. He said that is vital because everyone is facing the same issues, whether it is the fear of nuclear weapons or the rise of artificial intelligence.

“We’re going to rise together, baby, or we’re going to fall together, baby,” Friedman said. “But baby, whatever we’re doin’, we’re doin’ it together.”

Welker said they had to end the interview on that “very powerful note.”

Watch above.

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