MSNBC’s Michael Steele Compares Trump Deportations to Putin Kidnapping Journalists
MSNBC’s Michael Steele drew a comparison between the United States deporting Kilmar Abgrego Garcia and hostile foreign governments and terror groups kidnapping Americans on Tuesday.
“How is it different from when Putin grabs a journalist or some rogue group in the Middle East grabs an American and we’re sitting here fighting to try to get the back?” Steele asked about the Abrego Garcia case.
Steele was joined by Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD), who said he was denied access to Garcia during a recent visit to El Salvador.
President Donald Trump’s administration admitted that Garcia was deported to an El Salvadoran megaprison due to an administrative error, but they have insisted he is a member of the MS-13 gang and said they are not responsible for bringing back the illegal migrant. Garcia’s legal team has denied any gang affiliations, pointing to the fact that Garcia has no related convictions. The administration has partly used a 2022 traffic stop video to back up their claims. In the video, Garcia is stopped by police while his car is filled with people and the police on scene question whether Garcia is “hauling” people for money.
Garcia was initially sent to the notorious CECOT prison, but he’s since been downgraded to a lower security facility. The Supreme Court ordered earlier this year that the administration “facilitate” Garcia’s release, but officials have disagreed with critics and activists on what exactly that entails.
“Our own governments snatched him up and put him in harm’s way and now Refuses to do what it must do and should do to get him back home,” Steele declared on Wednesday on The Weeknight.
He compared the situation to Americans being taken hostage while abroad.
“Is there any difference in your view as a member of Congress when you’re sitting here and you’re getting intel and information on individuals around the globe who’ve been taken hostage by groups and organizations and all this energy to try to get them back — I find we’re doing the exact same thing here in the US now with our own government,” Steele said.
Ivey accused the administration of rounding up migrants in the country legally as part of their mass deportations agenda.
“Having committed no crime or any kind of offense anywhere, they might not ever get out of there, depending on how this plays out,” he said.
“I just don’t understand how the U.S. government and this president justifies that, how you look Americans in the eyes and say, ‘we put them in a prison and they’re never coming back home,'” Steele added. “And they say it with such ugly smugness. They say it was such disdain for the humanity of the individual.”
Watch above via MSNBC.
