‘Going To Lose’: Chris Cuomo Warns James Carville Fighting For Alleged MS-13 Member Isn’t Hill Worth Dying On

NewsNation host Chris Cuomo warned Democratic strategist James Carville on Wednesday that advocating for the return of deported alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a politically losing battle, but Carville did not budge.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) published documents earlier on Wednesday indicating Garcia’s membership in MS-13. Cuomo told Carville on “CUOMO” that Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen traveling to El Salvador to push for Garcia’s return from his home country to the U.S. makes it seem like Democrats are taking the side of a gang member, putting them at odds with popular sentiment about deportation.

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“Politically, if you want to argue due process, that’s high ground. But it does look, with Van Hollen running down to El Salvador, like you guys are pleading the case of a gang banger and trying to bring him back into this country,” Cuomo said. “And you’re going to lose politically to the effort to get bad guys out of the country.”

“There is no evidence that has ever been presented, okay? There’s no due process, there’s no anything. That’s agreed on. Every court has said bring him back,” Carville said. “So what do we do? Say, ‘We want to pivot to another issue, let’s just leave him down in some El Salvadorian dump.’ Let the president of the United States, who by the way, in his oath of office, is to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, of which the Supreme Court, I think is Article III … He is blatantly disregarding an order.”

A lower court ordered Garcia’s return, but the Supreme Court required it to clarify the order and instructed the Trump administration to “facilitate” his release.

“So if we pivot to another issue, if we take care of the middle class, if we don’t have laws in this country, what good have we done? I just think that it is an outrage that this guy is out there,” Carville continued. “And if the Democratic Party can’t stand up for him, who the hell are we going to stand up for? Nobody. Nothing … You got to do everything you can to get this guy back home.”

Cuomo said he understood Carville’s argument, but that Garcia “is a tough poster boy for the cause.”

The Democratic strategist’s comments on “CUOMO” echoed his remarks earlier on Wednesday urging Democrats to strongly prioritize efforts to return Garcia.

“We gotta keep fighting this. I think this is worthy of being at the top agenda of things that we’re going to fight over is get this guy back home,” Carville said on his “Politics War Room” podcast.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also published court filings Wednesday demonstrating Garcia’s wife requested a domestic violence restraining order against him.

Yet earlier in the “CUOMO” segment, Carville referred to Garcia as an “innocent person” twice.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Garcia, who illegally entered the U.S. in 2011, on March 12, according to court documents. Carville suggested his deportation was a slippery slope on his podcast.

Van Hollen hoped to meet Garcia in El Salvador’s mega-prison, but the government did not allow him to enter the facility. He has only met with El Salvador Vice President Félix Ulloa despite requesting a meeting with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele.

A Fox News poll published in March found that 63% of Americans support deporting illegal immigrants to their home countries.