Out MS Now host Rachel Maddow praised Minneapolis protestors for successfully intimidating the Trump administration into scaling back ICE operations in the city.

News broke Monday night that Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino – the face of Trump’s violent ICE campaign – is not only leaving Minneapolis but is also being demoted back to his old job as Border Patrol sector chief in El Centro, California. The administration also reportedly plans to reduce the number of agents in the city, though it is unclear by how much.

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Pete Buttigieg lauds protestors who are winning the fight in Minneapolis

The news comes after Minneapolis residents have peacefully and relentlessly resisted ICE’s out-of-control actions in the city, which have resulted in the deaths of two people.

“After months of protest, what happened when they killed Alex Pretti?” Maddow said. “There was a small-d democratic flex against which the Trump administration just crumbled.”

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She lauded the fact that even Republicans in the Minnesota legislature are calling for an end to ICE operations in Minneapolis. She also spoke about the shocking withdrawal of leading Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Madel from the race. “I cannot support the national Republicans’ stated retribution on the citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so,” he said.

He said what’s happening is “wrong” and called ICE actions in Minnesota an “unmitigated disaster.”

“I have to look my daughters in the eye and tell them, ‘I believe I did what was right.’ And I am doing that today,” said Madel, who also provided legal counsel for Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who killed queer wife and mother Renee Good earlier this month.

I am ending my campaign for Minnesota Governor. I describe why in the below video. Please watch until the end. (It is 10 minutes, 52 seconds.)

Thank you,
Chris pic.twitter.com/2nfyAyTzNZ

— Chris Madel (@CWMadel) January 26, 2026

Maddow also praised the fact that Congressional Republicans and Republican governors are increasingly speaking out against ICE.

Republicans in Congress are calling for investigations into the administration’s actions, something that was unimaginable even earlier this month. This includes Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). 

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) called the situation in Minnesota “a real tragedy.”

“I think the death of Americans, what we’re seeing on TV, it’s causing deep concerns over federal tactics and accountability,” he said. “Americans don’t like what they’re seeing right now.” As chair of the National Governors Association, Stitt also spearheaded a statement urging “leaders at all levels to exercise wisdom and consider a reset of strategy toward a unified vision for immigration enforcement. “

“Scenes of violence and chaos on our streets are unacceptable and do not reflect who we are,” it declared.

And Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (R) also spoke out after Pretti’s death, calling it “not acceptable for American citizens to be killed by federal agents for exercising their god-given and constitutional rights to protest their government.”

“At best, these federal immigration operations are a complete failure of coordination of acceptable public safety and law enforcement practices, training, and leadership,” Scott said. “At worst, it’s a deliberate federal intimidation and incitement of American citizens that’s resulting in the murder of Americans.”

“Enough,” he declared, urging Trump to “reset the federal government’s focus on truly criminal illegal immigrants.” He also called on Congress and the courts to “restore constitutionality” if the president won’t act.

pic.twitter.com/Q47yJYrBpn

— Governor Phil Scott (@GovPhilScott) January 25, 2026

And there is more.

Maddow reported that Senate Democrats, even some moderates who have voted alongside Republicans in the past to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said they will not vote to fund it this week. She said the House resolution to impeach DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has garnered over 140 cosponsors and noted that some Democrats who voted last week to fund DHS are now apologizing for doing so.

“This is called political change,” she said, adding that there has even been discomfort with the Trump administration expressed from “the sinkhole of sniveling cowardice that has been America’s business so-called leaders.”

More than 60 Minnesota companies – including Target, Best Buy, General Mills, and Cargill – signed on to a letter calling for “immediate de-escalation of tensions” in the city. It was a significant move because big business has generally been caving to Trump‘s whims since he returned to office. Target, specifically, has received significant criticism for standing by as ICE uses its parking lots as staging areas.

“And yes, that is too little and yes, that is too late,” Maddow said of the statement, “but it is way more than they were willing to do before.”

Maddow went on to remind viewers of the significance of all these developments.

“We are conditioned to expect that the actions of anyone in politics who is not currently the president are just not very powerful actions… but we are conditioned to believe that in a way that is not actually keeping faith with who we are as a country,” she said. “Because what we inherited from the Founding Fathers of this country is a democracy that was explicitly and purposefully designed to be decentralized and divided and responsive to the people.”

“And when the people push in a concerted way, what we are seeing is that the country is working the way its supposed to, the levers of power are moving, there is a political response, a small-d democratic response, and yes, that means the president’s poll numbers sink further into the bedrock, including on immigration, which he really at one point wanted to be his signature issue, and he is now running from it.”

She explained that “political gravity” is starting to work on the Trump administration – and it’s all because of on-the-ground resistance.

“You are seeing a political shift happening,” she said, “and that is because of the people. It starts with the people; it starts with the protests that we have seen. Principled, peaceful, relentless protest – it works. That is the source of this shift: peaceful, powerful, relentless, principled protest works. It uses democratic means to save democracy. That has what has made all of this political shifting happen. That is what has forced the Trump administration to change course.”

She said it was important to be very clear about Bovino’s leaving Minneapolis and why the administration is reducing the number of ICE agents in the city.

“If you were part of these protests, if you were part of the peaceful democratic advocacy to get ICE out of Minneapolis tonight, you are winning.”

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