GOP Sen. Kennedy Tells NBC Abrego Garcia is ‘Never Coming Back’ to US — ‘EVER’

Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy on Sunday said that there is simply no chance that deported Maryland resident and citizen of El Salvador Kilmar Abrego Garcia will ever return to the United States, “ever.”

Kennedy joined host Kristen Welker on Easter Sunday’s Meet the Press to talk about the deportation and other issues, and was on after Welker’s interview with Maryland Democrat Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who visited Abrego Garcia at the prison where he’s now incarcerated in El Salvador.

Welker began by referencing her Van Hollen interview and asked Kennedy, Should Mr. Abrego Garcia be returned to the United States, senator?”

“Well, Chris is my friend. And I respect him. And he’s certainly entitled to his opinion,” said Kennedy. “But in my judgment, he is utterly and gloriously wrong.”

Kennedy said that “gauzy rhetoric” on the subject is “just rage bait,” and it did seem to generate some rage from President Trump on Truth Social Sunday afternoon. But Kennedy went on to say that it doesn’t change what will happen.

“Unless you’re next-level obtuse, you know that Mr. Garcia is never coming back to the United States, ever,” he said definitively. But he added that it’s not because of Trump, but rather El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele.

“He said up front in the Oval Office that he was not going to return Mr. Garcia,” Kennedy said of Bukele’s comments while meeting with Trump. “No federal judge, even J. Wilkinson, has authority over a sovereign country.”

Kennedy also told Welker that he sees the deportation of Abrego Garcia as a “screw-up” on the part of the administration, but also that he knows why they won’t admit it.

“The administration won’t admit it. But, this was a screw-up. Mr. Garcia was not supposed to be sent to El Salvador. He was sent to El Salvador,” he said. ” And I understand why the administration has bowed up and won’t admit it’s a mistake. Because if they do, they’ll have their throats torn out.”

“I’ve been listening to my Democratic friends say for, I don’t know, since God was a child, that Trump is a threat to democracy,” he added. “I don’t see any pattern here. I see a screw-up.”

Also on Sunday, Sen. Van Hollen defended his visit with Abrego Garcia to CNN, and Trump border czar Tom Homan defended the deportation on ABC’s This Week.

WELKER: Thank you so much for being here. Let’s start off with this case of Mr. Abrego Garcia. You heard my conversation with Senator Van Hollen. The Justice Department called the deportation of Mr. Abrego Garcia a, quote, “administrative error.” The Supreme Court has ordered the government to facilitate Mr. Abrego Garcia’s return. Should Mr. Abrego Garcia be returned to the United States, senator?

KENNEDY: Well, Chris is my friend. And I respect him. And he’s certainly entitled to his opinion. But in my judgment, he is utterly and gloriously wrong. I mean, most of this gauzy rhetoric is just rage bait. Unless you’re next-level obtuse, you know that Mr. Garcia is never coming back to the United States, ever.

And that’s not because of President Trump. That’s because of President Bukele. He said up front in the Oval Office that he was not going to return Mr. Garcia. No federal judge, even J. Wilkinson, has authority over a sovereign country.

Besides that, it should not go unnoticed that Mr. Bukele is much closer to President Xi in China than he is to President Trump. Xi is spending billions of dollars to build infrastructure in El Salvador. And I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve discussed this case.

Watch the clip above via Meet the Press from NBC News.