Dem Senator’s Harsh New Takedown of Trump Hits Home: “Breaking Point”

THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

The New Republic

News, Politics

4.4 • 800 Ratings

🗓️ 27 January 2026

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As the country absorbs the shock of Alex Pretti’s murder by federal agents in Minneapolis, President Trump is politically on the defensive. He sent his border czar there and sort of made nice with Minnesota’s Democratic governor. Meanwhile, Republicans and senior ICE officials are panicking about the situation. Democratic Senators are vowing to oppose funding for the Department of Homeland Security absent major restrictions on ICE. Will they hold the line? We talked to Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut. He offers a bracing indictment of Trump-ICE lawlessness, saying bluntly that we’re at a “breaking point” that will decide whether “we condone the federal government murdering our own citizens.” Murphy also lays out how Trump is losing the argument over immigration, what Democrats should demand to restrict ICE and explains why it would be disastrous—for his party and the country—if Democrats cave at such a critical moment. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Daily Blast from the New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network.
0:16.4	I'm your host, Greg Sargent.
0:32.9	As the political world absorbs the shocking news of Alex Preddy's murder by federal agents in Minneapolis,
0:37.8	President Trump is realizing that these horrors are becoming a major political problem.
0:43.8	He just sent his border czar to Minnesota and even claimed he had a constructive conversation with Minnesota's Democratic governor. Meanwhile, numerous reports show Republicans and even senior
0:49.9	ICE officials panicking about the situation. And White House press secretary, Caroline Leavitt,
0:55.4	refused to say whether Trump backs officials who labeled Prattie a domestic terrorist.
1:01.6	Democrats are now demanding major restrictions on the Department of Homeland Security
1:05.6	and bowing to oppose funding if they don't get them. Will Democrats hold the line?
1:12.6	We're talking today to Senator Chris Murphy, who's been a leader in calling for a serious congressional effort in restraining ICE.
1:18.1	Senator Murphy, thanks so much for joining us. Yeah, absolutely. Good to be with you.
1:22.8	So just to recap, after the horrific murder of Alex Pdy in Minneapolis, Democratic senators vowed not to
1:29.0	fund the Department of Homeland Security without major, major restrictions on it, and maybe not to fund
1:34.7	it at all. Democrats are debating what to demand from Republicans in the White House to restrict ICE.
1:40.9	Senator, where are those discussions among Democrats right now? Well, we're working it through.
1:45.8	I've been on the phone pretty constantly over the last three to four days trying to get consensus.
1:52.5	Obviously, I have been of the mind for a while that it made no sense to fund the Department of Homeland
2:00.7	Security that was out of control
2:02.5	even before these last two murders to me, it looked like it was a violation of our oath
2:07.8	to hand billions of dollars to a Trump Department of Homeland Security that every single day is
2:14.4	violating the law. I think it's important for us to understand that this is not
2:18.3	just about Minneapolis. I understand that the country is seized by the mayhem and the chaos there,
	...

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