Trump slams Dems and media for portraying deported 'gang member' Kilmar Abrego Garcia as 'innocent'
WASHINGTON, DC: On what was supposed to be a peaceful Easter Sunday, President Donald Trump lashed out at "liberals and the mainstream media" for coddling Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Trump dropped his holiday message early in the morning before unloading a series of all-caps Truth Social posts. He touched on everything from tariffs to general grievances, but it wasn’t long before he zeroed in on Garcia.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident and citizen of El Salvador, has been dominating the news cycle of late. The Trump administration deported him, prompting outrage from the left and even got podcaster Joe Rogan scratching his head over the decision. But the POTUS wasn’t having any of the sympathy headlines.
Donald Trump's Easter Sunday rant
Donald Trump ripped into Kilmar Abrego Garcia and anyone daring to defend him, Mediaite reported.
“Radical Lunatic Democrats and their Comrades in the Fake News Media are falsely making Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia out to be a very sweet and innocent person, which is a total, blatant, and dangerous LIE,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“Garcia has been found by two separate Courts to be a member of the violent, killer gang MS-13, was in our Country illegally, and is under a Deportation Order," the POTUS noted.
“It is despicable and unAmerican for Liberals and the Mainstream Media to hate our Country so much, and be obsessed with protecting criminals, instead of working to keep our Border, streets, and families safe," he fumed, before adding, “Those lying to the American People on behalf of violent criminals have to be held responsible by the Agencies and the Courts.”
Donald Trump administration deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia
Donald Trump's team recently unsealed a stack of documents on Kilmar Abrego Garcia. While his defenders say he is being railroaded without due process, the Trump administration has labeled him a known gang member with ties to the notorious MS-13.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called him a “gang member” and “apparent woman-beater.”
Two past run-ins with the law have been documented: a 2019 arrest that didn’t lead to charges, but did end with ICE locking him up, and a 2021 protective order filed by his wife, alleging domestic violence. She later dropped it, saying they’d patched things up, as per the outlet.
Abrego Garcia also admitted to authorities that he entered the US illegally in 2012 and is a Salvadoran citizen—something that’s not exactly helping his case. Immigration judges often lean on ICE and police evidence in cases like his, and it’s up to the accused to disprove gang ties.
David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, told CNN that the system is stacked against folks like Garcia. “The burden of proof is on the applicant for release in this situation. There’s a bias against release. Any derogatory information, no matter how weak, is going to tip the scales against release in that situation.”
He added that “the fact that there was this sketchy worksheet out there ultimately was enough to prevent his release on bond prior to a determination on the outcome of his case.”
Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen visits Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador
Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) recently stepped into the spotlight.
The Maryland Democrat flew to El Salvador on Wednesday to meet with Abrego Garcia directly. Not buying the MS-13 narrative, Hollen called Garcia’s removal an “illegal abduction.”
After meeting with him on Thursday, Abrego Garcia was handed back to Salvadoran authorities.
The Trump team torched Van Hollen for what they saw as political grandstanding and for painting Garcia as some kind of misunderstood hero.
