Democrat Consultants Panic over Lawmakers Defending Accused MS-13 Member: ‘We Need to Step Back’

Democrat consultants are warning Democrats that they are taking a massive political risk by defending an illegal alien deported to El Salvador after being accused of MS-13 gang membership, domestic violence, and human trafficking.

Last month, the Trump administration deported 29-year-old Kilmar Abrego Garcia — an illegal alien from El Salvador who had been arrested in 2019 and accused by the Prince George’s County Police Department of being a member of the violent MS-13 gang.

Federal immigration judges likewise believed Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13 after a reliable criminal informant confirmed the illegal alien’s rank within the gang.

Before this arrest, Abrego Garcia’s wife accused him of domestic violence, and he was accused of being involved in a human trafficking operation in Tennessee in December 2022.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) flew to El Salvador this month and met with Abrego Garcia while Reps. Robert Garcia (D-CA), Maxwell Frost (D-FL), Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), and Maxine Dexter (D-OR) — called the “El Salvador Four” — traveled to El Salvador this week to demand the illegal alien’s return to the United States.

Democrat consultants, behind the scenes, are panicking over the prospect that voters will side against Democrats for defending Abrego Garcia.

“People can’t afford eggs, and … you’re flying to sit with someone who’s accused of being in a gang,” a Democrat consultant told The Hill:

“Democrats want to think that everyone has the same morals and values that we do, and we want to think that everyone’s outraged by the same things that we are and we want to be the ones to help people and stand up for the moral injustices. That doesn’t necessarily win elections though, and last cycle was proof positive of that,” the operative continued. “We need to step back and wait for someone to be deported who has a really compelling story that’s devastating that Average Joe’s upset about. That person hasn’t presented themselves yet, and Democrats are battling their better instincts and not just hop at the first sign of injustice.” [Emphasis added]

The consultant noted that Van Hollen has refused to meet with the Morin family whose loved one, 37-year-old Rachel Morin, was brutally raped and beaten to death by an illegal alien MS-13 gang member in 2023.

Morin’s rape and murder is known as the most horrific crime in Harford County, Maryland history.

“The hit on [Sen. Chris Van Hollen] that he’ll fly to El Salvador on taxpayer dollars and meet with a guy who’s accused of being in a gang, but he won’t meet with the family of gang victims in his home state is a very fair hit,” the consultant told The Hill:

“If you look at the senators who actually have to deal with immigration as an issue in their state in order to win, the fact that they’re not trying to hop on top of this, but a liberal senator from Maryland is kind of tells you everything you need to know about how palpable it is to the middle,” the operative said. [Emphasis added]

Democrat consultants similarly told CNN that they worry Democrats are “giving the White House and the Republicans a lot of images and visuals that they think are compelling for them,” referring to the trips to El Salvador to defend Abrego Garcia.

“The impulse among lots of Democrats is to always crank the volume up to 11 and take advantage of whatever the easiest, most obvious photo opportunity is,” a consultant told CNN.

Democrat consultant Mo Elleithee, who worked for failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, said Democrats should not be making a martyr out of Abrego Garcia in the case that the allegations against him are confirmed.

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), a member of the El Salvador Four, said this week that he and other Democrats are planning to “organize” in El Salvador to influence President Nayib Bukele to release Abrego Garcia from law enforcement custody and return him to the U.S.

“We’re meeting with advocates on the ground. We are organizing here in El Salvador … we are here to raise awareness that Kilmar needs to come home. We need to build support here in El Salvador but also the United States,” Garcia said in a video posted from El Salvador.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here. 

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