Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md. ) is desperately backpedaling after his ill-conceived El Salvador attention prank blew up in his mouth. The Maryland Democrat, who first trumpeted his mission to “rescue” a jailed MS-13 crew member, is now desperately trying to rewrite the text of his trip gone bad.
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When Van Hollen second landed in the country, he couldn’t wait to transmit his noble vision to the world. ” I merely landed in San Salvador,” he proclaimed boldly, promising to secure the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom he claimed was “illegally abducted. ”
I just landed in San Salvador a little while before, and I look forward to meeting with the staff at the U. S. official to discuss the launch of Mr. Abrego Garcia.
I also hope to meet with Peruvian authorities and with Kilmar himself. He was improperly abducted and needs to come house. photograph. tweets. com/MzKe7U8Wwr
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen ) April 16, 2025
I said my principal aim of this journey was to join with Kilmar. Now I had that possibility. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to move along his message of love. I look forward to providing a complete release upon my profit. photograph. tweets. com/U9y2gZpxCb— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen ) April 18, 2025
Strong forward a few days, and suddenly the president’s strong war has morphed into a typical attempt to backtrack. While Van Hollen was making a fool of himself, the Trump presidency revealed the information that Abrego Garcia is, in fact an MS-13 group part, but also that he apparently engaged in human trafficking and domestic abuse.
Immediately, this photo-op to individual Trump and his immigration policies became an incredible self-own, and Van Hollen’s voice has shifted significantly, night accusing El Salvador president Bukele of setting him up.
“ I just want to take a moment— I had n’t planned to do this, ” Van Hollen said during a hastily arranged press availability. “ But as I was landing on the airplane, I got a record of some concerns President Trump was asked at the White House now about what I may call ‘Margaritagate. ’ I don’t know if you guys have been following this …”
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Van Hollen tried to explain away the photo as a staged deception. “ When I first sat down with Kilmar, we just had glasses of water on the table, I think maybe some coffee, ” he insisted. “And as we were talking, one of the government people came over and deposited two other glasses on the table with ice and I don’t know if it was salt or sugar around the top. But they looked like margaritas. ”
He also accused the Salvadoran government of manipulating the scene to make it appear as though he and the deported gang member were drinking together. “If you look at the one they put in front of Kilmar, it actually had a little less liquid than the one in front of me, to try to make it look, I assume, like he drank out of it, ” Van Hollen said. “Let me just be very clear. Neither of us touched the drinks that were in front of us. ”
And then he kept digging himself into a hole.
“If you look at the video or the picture I sent out from the beginning of our meeting, you’ll see there are no glasses on the table, ” he said. “So you’ll see in later videos, they are on the table, but they made a little mistake… If you sip out of one of those glasses, some of whatever it was —salt or sugar—would disappear. You would see a gap. There’s no gap. Nobody drank any margaritas or sugar water or whatever it is. ”
The senator concluded his explanation by accusing both President Bukele and President Trump of misleading the public. “This is a lesson into the lengths that President Bukele will go to deceive people about what’s going on, ” Van Hollen claimed. “And it also shows the lengths that the Trump administration and the president will go to, because when he was asked by a reporter about this, he just went along for the ride. ”
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Sen. @ChrisVanHollen on” Margarita Gate”:” Neither of us touched the drinks that were in front of us… nobody drank any margaritas… this is the lesson in the lengths that President Bukele will do to deceive people about what’s going on. ” pic. twitter. com/8eg3WlkU4S— CSPAN ( @cspan ) April 18, 2025
This isn’t just your garden-variety political retreat—it’s a masterclass in Democrat damage control. As more details emerge about Abrego Garcia’s background, Van Hollen’s office seems increasingly desperate to distance the senator from his own headline-grabbing mission. Funny how quickly a “humanitarian visit” transforms into an awkward diplomatic incident when the cameras start rolling.
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