Politics
WATCH: Jake Tapper Gets Brutally Fact-Checked On His Own Show
The education of Jake Tapper may never be finished, but he can’t say he wasn’t schooled.
Tapper’s teacher on Friday was U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), who chided the CNN anchor for advocating for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the so-called “Maryland man” who was recently returned to the U.S. to face human trafficking charges following his deportation by the Trump administration.
In a testy exchange, Moreno, himself a legal immigrant, reminded Tapper how “insane” Republicans feel it is to follow a court order that Garcia must be returned only to be deported again.
“The administration’s followed every court ruling, including the ridiculous one that we had to bring back an El Salvadoran citizen who is a criminal alien convicted of awful crimes, shouldn’t be in this country in the first place, and we literally had to bring him back from El Salvador to tie up our court system to prove what we already know, what he’d already gone through, which is that he shouldn’t be in this country,” said the first-term senator.
Tapper at first didn’t give an inch, replying, “What crimes was he convicted of?”
Moreno responded, “He came into this country illegally, right? And a judge heard his case.”
“Right, but a judge said he couldn’t be deported back to El Salvador,” said Tapper.
Regardless of the ruling, Moreno argued, Garcia could have been deported to “a hundred different countries” while still abiding by the ruling. Instead, the Trump administration believes it can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Garcia, 26, was at one time involved in human trafficking, citing a 2022 traffic stop where he was found driving seven individuals without luggage on an extended trip from Texas to Maryland.
“This is insane, Jake. Look, as a legal immigrant to this country, can we please agree that we want to respect our laws and reward our people who patiently wait in line, and stop advocating for people who skip the line and break the laws to come here. We want, we are a country of immigrants, but we can’t be a country of illegal immigrants. This isn’t complicated, this is very, very easy. Advocate for legal immigration and zero, zero tolerance for illegal immigration,” Moreno said.
It wasn’t long before Tapper moved on to another topic.
WATCH:
Democrats have largely shifted gears following months of public outcry surrounding the case of Garcia. A steady drip of revelations about the former Maryland resident’s history suggested he may be implicated in criminal behavior, making it difficult to portray him as a sympathetic figure in the press.
Among them was a 2021 restraining order sought by his ex-wife, who claimed that Garcia had been violent toward her and their two children. Following their divorce, the ex-husband of Garcia’s new girlfriend told social workers that his ex was dating a “gang member,” corroborating claims by the Trump administration that Garcia is a member of the ultra-violent MS-13.
Garcia remains in jail pending a hearing on Friday in Tennessee, where federal prosecutors will be making the case that he poses a flight risk if released. A two-count indictment charges him with one count each of conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gain and unlawful transportation of illegal aliens for financial gain, according to NBC News.
