Politics
MSNBC Under Fire For ‘Dystopian’ Move
MSNBC is facing growing criticism after abruptly cutting away from live Oval Office coverage just as President Trump began reading a fact sheet on Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an MS-13 gang member and deported Salvadoran national whose case has sparked a legal and political firestorm.
The moment occurred during the swearing-in ceremony of Dr. Mehmet Oz as the new Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). As Trump began referencing Garcia’s criminal background and the Biden-era judicial protections that shielded him from deportation, MSNBC cut the feed and returned to studio commentary.
“In 2019 Garcia was issued a deportation order, two separate judges confirmed Garcia was a member of MS-13…” Trump said.
“We’ve been watching President Donald Trump there swearing in the new administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, Dr. Mehmet Oz—” the MSNBC anchor interrupted, cutting to a generic summary of the event. The timing was immediate and conspicuous. It came at the very second Trump mentioned Garcia by name and began laying out details about his gang affiliations.
WATCH:
Abrego Garcia, 30, entered the U.S. illegally in 2011 at the age of 16 and later obtained “withholding of removal” status from an immigration judge in 2019, citing gang violence in El Salvador. Trump’s administration deported him in March. The move drew lawsuits and culminated in a Supreme Court ruling declaring the removal “unlawful.”
However, the administration’s response to the court order drew further attention. Rather than fully reinstate his U.S. residency, the Trump administration interpreted the ruling narrowly, stating its only obligation was to “facilitate” a return if El Salvador released him.
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has said he lacks the authority to do so under Salvadoran law.
Trump has made the case emblematic of his administration’s broader fight against illegal immigration and criminal gang activity. During the CMS ceremony, the president used the high-profile moment to press his point—only for MSNBC to pull the plug.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, whose CMS appointment was confirmed by the Senate earlier this month in a 53–45 vote, now oversees more than $2.6 trillion in federal healthcare spending.
