The fight over Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia came down to "optics" for the Trump administration, Journalist Chuck Todd surmised Friday on CNN.
The only explanation for the administration's continued resistance to bring Abrego Garcia home from El Salvador, where he was mistakenly deported, is to give the MAGA base what they want to see, Todd said.
"Why, if they believe they have the law on their side, that they could deport [Abrego Garcia] somewhere else, that they've mistakenly done this — why are they so afraid of bringing him back, going into court and making their case?" Todd asked. "It's almost like they're relishing the opportunity to have this showdown."
Todd said it's a familiar pattern within the administration, "where, instead of doing something that you could do it under the umbrella of constitutional, whether we're talking about DOGE or something like this, it's almost like they're intentionally saying, 'No, let's have the showdown, because the fight is good politics for the base.' And it feels as if that's what all this is about, that if they have the optics right for the base, they don't care about the substance."
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Journalist Kara Swisher interjected, "It's an emphasis on show, right? Because it's playing for social media. It's playing for very quick, snackable bits. You can see how they're doing it. They want those pictures to come through — and then they coordinate with the president of El Salvador, who himself, is a showboat — essentially by saying, 'Oh, they're having margaritas at this hotel,' when, in fact, Kristi Noem has given us a lot of pictures of what that place looks like and her poses in font of those prisoners."
Swisher summed up, "It's about...winning the day versus the truth."
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) returned from meeting with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador Friday afternoon and claimed that the Salvadoran government set up the margaritas to manipulate the photo op.
Watch the video below via CNN.