GOP senator rips Trump response to Alex Pretti's killing by feds in Minneapolis: 'Stock going down?!'
Tillis said Trump’s remarks about Pretti were inappropriate while urging that the investigation into the killing play out.

SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYThe Independent is an established news organization with identifiable authorship and editorial standards. The article attributes its central claims to Tillis and to Trump’s post, though it offers limited independent sourcing.
- Source type — An established international news outlet with a record of reporting current affairs.
- Author attribution — The article names its reporter.
- Editorial standards — The publisher operates as a professional newsroom, though specific corrections information is not shown in the article.
- Source selection — Key statements are attributed to named speakers or a social media post, but the story relies heavily on Tillis’s account.
The article gives direct quotations and describes the video and relevant political context. Its reporting is concise and largely dependent on Tillis’s comments and Trump’s post, with no response from federal agencies or other independent sources.
HOW WE SCORE ↗The article includes Trump’s remarks and Tillis’s criticism as well as Tillis’s acknowledgment of Pretti’s conduct in the earlier video. It offers little additional perspective from the agencies involved or independent sources.
- Source diversity — The article relies chiefly on Tillis and Trump’s post, without agency or independent expert comment.
- Counterarguments presented — Trump’s characterization and the video’s described content appear alongside Tillis’s criticism.
- Loaded language — The strongest language is attributed to the quoted speakers rather than adopted as the article’s own characterization.
The article uses a largely reportorial tone, attributes its claims, and includes both Tillis’s criticism of Trump and his view that Pretti agitated officers.
- Language tone — Mostly neutral, with charged terms presented as quotations from Trump or Tillis.
- Source selection — The account centers on Tillis’s interview and includes Trump’s post as the subject of his criticism.
- Framing — The headline emphasizes Tillis’s criticism, while the article also reports his acknowledgment that Pretti agitated officers.
Sen. Thom Tillis criticized President Donald Trump’s remarks about Alex Pretti, who was killed by federal officers in Minneapolis, while saying Pretti had agitated officers before the shooting. Tillis said the investigation should play out and objected to Trump’s comments about Pretti’s “stock.”
Trump posted that a video filmed 11 days before Pretti was killed showed Pretti kicking an ICE vehicle and described him as an “agitator” and “perhaps, insurrectionist.” Tillis said the video showed Pretti agitating officers, but criticized Trump’s remark that Pretti’s “stock” had gone down and said the investigation should play out.
The article says Tillis had called for a federal investigation into the killing and criticized Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for calling Pretti a “domestic terrorist.” It also reports that Tillis and Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Noem should leave her position, and that Tillis opposed supporting a replacement for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell until the Justice Department’s investigation of Powell ended.
Community verdict
18 VOTESCounts every outlet’s report of this story. See all 3
Votes cast on this page
Votes cast on this page: ▲ 8 · ◆ 4 · ▼ 6
People in this story
SWIPE →President whose remarks about Pretti Tillis criticized
Trump's version of this story ↗Senator who joined Tillis in saying Noem should leave her position
Trump’s announced choice to replace Powell
Homeland Security secretary criticized by Tillis
Federal Reserve chair whose Justice Department investigation Tillis discussed
Part of a bigger story
3 OUTLETSThomas Tillis responded to Donald Trump’s insult with a joke after criticizing administration officials. Left-leaning outlets portray Tillis’s reply as an example for Republicans who have stayed quiet and stress his criticism of Trump allies. Center outlets emphasize the unexpected joke and note video that appears to contradict officials’ claims.
- ARTICLES
- 3
- OUTLETS
- 3
- AVG CRED
- 54
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