President Donald Trump criticized the legacy media on Friday for focusing heavily on the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a deported Salvadoran national, while largely ignoring the mother of Rachel Morin, a Maryland woman who was brutally murdered by an illegal immigrant in 2023.
Trump noted that for weeks, Democratic politicians and major media outlets have concentrated on Abrego Garcia, who was deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration despite a 2019 court order barring his removal. The former president made his remarks during a media appearance at the swearing-in ceremony for Dr. Mehmet Oz, the new administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“I’ve been hit pretty hard by fake shows, fake news, MSDNC in particular,” Trump said. “Where they talk about how evil I am that this man would be thrown out of our country, who is, according to certified statements that we got, a very violent person. And they want this man to be brought back into our country where he can be free. Who they don’t talk about is that wonderful ‘Angel Mom,’ who lost her daughter,” Trump added, referring to Patty Morin, who was the White House’s special guest in the briefing room on Wednesday. “She spoke unbelievably, I saw it, and the fake news didn’t pick it up. She spoke through tears. She’s devastated. She’s told me her life is like over.”
Morin urged reporters in the briefing room to “tell the truth” about the violent criminals that the Biden administration’s border policies allowed into the United States. “It’s more than politics,” she said. “It’s about national security. It’s about protecting Americans. It’s about protecting our children.”
The Trump administration contends that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a member of the violent MS-13 gang and poses a threat to public safety in the United States. In 2019, an immigration judge ordered his deportation from Maryland due to his documented gang ties but barred the government from returning him to El Salvador, citing his claims of fear of persecution. The judge’s ruling has since sparked debate, with some interpreting it as granting Abrego Garcia legal protections to remain in the U.S. despite his unlawful entry.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case is now in the courts, with U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis giving the Trump administration two weeks to demonstrate that it is taking steps to return him to the United States. During a recent Oval Office meeting, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele called the notion that his government would agree to send Abrego Garcia back “preposterous.” During the press conference on Friday, Trump read from a restraining order that accused Abrego Garcia of being violent toward his wife, who is quoted in the order as saying she was afraid to be near him.