Olson on Newsmax: Minnesota Protests and Sen. Mark Kelly’s Lawsuit
Jan 13, 2026
Byline: American Pulse Staff
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Dustin Olson, lead pollster at American Pulse Research & Polling, joined First Edition on Newsmax to discuss the unfolding situation in Minnesota following the fatal shooting of Renee Good by ICE officers after she appeared to have attempted to ram them with her car, as well as Sen. Mark Kelly, moving forward with a lawsuit against Sec. of War Pete Hegseth.
Why Minnesota Officials Are Desperately Trying to Impede ICE
Olson was first asked about local officials in Minnesota impeding lawful actions by ICE as well as encouraging citizens to also impede them. He first began by addressing why these officials are so motivated to stop ICE in the first place:
“Sanctuary states and sanctuary cities rely on these people [illegal immigrants] for economic and political power. They do not want to lose them because in the next census, that would affect their redistricting.”
Olson also brought up an interesting point about these large-scale protests frequently seen across the country, noting that it's the same billionaires, the same left-wing networks, and the same playbook put into practice for all of them.
“A week and a half ago, we saw in the wee hours of the morning on a Saturday, pro-Maduro protests pop up around the country. These were dress rehearsals for what then turned into the ICE protests. They’re funded by Roy Neville Singham, the American billionaire who lives in Communist China, plus other left wing billionaires. These things don’t happen just on their own.”
AZ Sen. Mark Kelly Moves to Sue Sec. of War Pete Hegseth
The conversation then moved to Sen. Mark Kelly, a member of the infamous “Seditious Six,” who recently decided to bring suit against Sec. of War Pete Hegseth. Olson described how Mark Kelly told the military they could disobey orders, but is now shocked that his pension could be on the line, when the reality is if any enlisted service member followed his advice, not only would they lose their pension, they’d end up in the brig.
“I believe it was an attack on the chain of command, and I think it is very disruptive… he [Mark Kelly] told the rank and file of the military to ignore orders, and he was being a little cute by half by saying ‘lawful’ orders, because we know what they meant.”
Olson also pointed to polling that showed strong support for the supposed “unlawful” orders that supposedly led the Seditious Six to create their video: Trump’s orders to bomb cartel drug boats.
“When you look at the numbers, 60% of independents and even nearly half—49%—of Democrats agreed with those orders. So most of the country would have disagreed with the issue that they brought up with that video.”
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