Former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) called out Minnesota officials for “encouraging bad behavior” by slandering U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and shared his opinions on the drama happening in Minnesota in an exclusive interview on Breitbart News Saturday. 

Rogers, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, told Breitbart News Deputy Political Editor Bradley Jaye that the rhetoric being lobbed at law enforcement officials from the far left is emboldening people to act aggressively.

Breitbart · Mike Rogers – January 17, 2026 “Well, you can’t have elected officials encouraging bad behavior… calling those law enforcement officers things like ‘Gestapo,’ saying they’re ‘disappearing people,’ working people into a frenzy, and labeling them — them being law enforcement — in a way that allows people to feel like, ‘Well, I can be very aggressive. I can do something. I can hit them. I can impede them.'”

“None of that is good,” Rogers continued, before calling it “absolute malpractice for these political leaders to do that.”

The White House has condemned dozens of elected Democrats, including mayors, senators, representatives, and governors, for recently unleashing a “torrent of vicious, inflammatory attacks” on ICE agents.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) called ICE a “threat” to the public and suggested that his state is at “war” with the federal officers he smeared as the “modern-day Gestapo.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) compared ICE to “secret police,” and called for people to “push back.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) argued that the agency is turning the U.S. into “Nazi Germany.”

“Why is the governor [Tim Walz] coming out — because he just got caught being a part of a $9 billion fraud against the American people — and man, wouldn’t he rather say that they’re ‘Gestapo’ than have to own up to the fact that his party and his administration was, in some way, part of this $9 billion fraud,” Rogers said. “I think that’s why he’s being so aggressive about this, you know.”

Handing the Democrats some credit, the former congressman said the left-wing party at least is “disciplined on their messaging” when it comes to drumming up fear of ICE. 

“The one thing you have to give Democrats, is they are really disciplined on their messaging. They’ll come up with their three points, and they all say it. They all say it over, and over, and over again,” Rogers said. “Truth doesn’t really impact their ability to have a good message.”

Meanwhile, ICE is continuing arrests across Minnesota despite left-wing protests, recently nabbing illegal aliens convicted of murder, domestic abuse, drunk driving, and more. 

Breitbart News Saturday airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.