‘Regardless of the Semantics’: Fox News Contributor Brushes Off Trump Adamantly Insisting Photoshopped MS-13 Tattoos Were Real
A Fox News contributor Wednesday appeared to brush off President Donald Trump being duped by an altered image of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s tattoos.
On Tuesday, ABC News aired an interview between Trump and Terry Moran. Arguably the most discussed moment came when Trump claimed Abrego Garcia — the Salvadoran national who was deported from his home in Maryland and imprisoned in El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) — had tattoos that spelled “MS-13.” Moran clarified that the tattoos were merely symbols that could be interpreted as having ties to the gang, but Trump pushed back and insisted that the tattoos literally read “MS-13.”
Two weeks prior, Trump held up a photo in the Oval Office of Abrego Garcia’s hand. On his knuckles were four tattoos: a marijuana leaf, a smiley face, a cross, and a skull. On top of the four symbols were the letters and numbers M, S, 1 and 3. In the photo, it was clear that the latter set of characters were digitally added to suggest the meaning of the symbols.
Trump, however, was adamant that the characters were part of Abrego Garcia’s tattoos.
On Wednesday’s episode of America Reports, Fox News contributor Nicole Parker disregarded Trump’s mistake while reiterating the administration’s claim that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13.
“Well, first of all, I obviously have not seen the original photo, so I’m not in a position to make an official statement,” Parker told Sandra Smith. “But what I can tell you, based on what I’m seeing and what I’ve observed in that depiction of what you’re seeing, obviously the first knuckle has marijuana, which is highly symbolic of drug use, drug affiliation, drug trafficking — which is what MS-13 is commonly involved in. Also, you see a knuckle that has a smiley face; and that is indicative, also that is seen in different MS-13 gang tattoos. That is almost mocking and making fun of death of law enforcement. You also see a cross and, ironically, MS-13 gangs tend to sometimes mix violence with faith. They want a prayer of protection in the midst of protecting themselves as they are committing violent crimes and hurting others. And then, of course, you have the skull, which is symbolic of, you know, death, intimidation and fear.
“So, regardless of, you know, the semantics of it, those images and what I am seeing are clear indicators of what you may see in an MS-13 gang tattoo.”
Watch above via Fox News
