Donald Trump gestures next to Patty Morin, whose daughter Rachel was killed in Maryland last year, during a campaign rally at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S., November 4, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
A House Democrat said the Democratic Party is falling into President Donald Trump's trap by continuing to speak out against the ongoing deportations, as the issue is helping Trump distract from the economy, "where his numbers are tanking."
The lawmaker, who was not identified, told Axios in a report published Wednesday, "We're going to go take the bait for one hairdresser," referring to Andry Hernandez Romero, a man who was deported to El Salvador earlier this month based on the government's belief that his tattoos linked him to a Venezuelan gang.
The Democrat's comments faced criticism on social media, where some political commentators said this position was inhumane given that wrongful deportations are a human rights issue.
"The economy is tanking. If we have a recession what some House mid-bencher tweets about it will make no difference in public perception. But Andry could be saved," Tim Miller, an MSNBC analyst, wrote on the social platform X.
Analyst Bill Kristol said, "I'm pretty much a centrist on policy. But comments like this explain why so many decent people find them...kind of pathetic."
Earlier, on Wednesday, former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Penn.) said Trump "would like nothing more than" talking about the deportation of a Maryland man to El Salvador and the issue of illegal immigration "ad nauseam" because it's "a great deflection from the issues that are really driving a lot of people in this country crazy right now."
"I tend to think that Donald Trump would like nothing more than to talk about this issue ad nauseam, about whether or not a person who entered the United States unlawfully should be returned from his native country," Dent told CNN's Audie Cornish.
Still, many argue that the Democratic Party should stand up to the administration over the issue of deportations because this is what the public wants.
Historian Sam Haselby wrote on X, "Bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia home. Why don't more Democrats stick up for people like this?"
Meanwhile, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) visited El Salvador on Wednesday and met with the country's vice president to advocate for the release of Garcia.
During a news conference in San Salvador, Van Hollen reported that Vice President Félix Ulloa informed him that the Salvadoran government would not facilitate Abrego Garcia's return to the U.S. Ulloa denied Van Hollen's request to visit Abrego Garcia in the infamous gang prison where he is currently incarcerated.
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