'Margarita-gate': Sen. Chris Van Hollen slams efforts to stage optics of meeting with Abrego Garcia
Source: ABC News
April 19, 2025, 3:47 PM
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., set out to El Salvador this week to find Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man at the center of an erroneous deportation, and get answers about his condition.
While he was relieved to get a chance to meet the Abrego Garcia face to face on Thursday, the senator slammed El Salvador President Nayib Bukele and President Donald Trump for what he said was a setup to defame him and the deportee.
Van Hollen said Friday that what he called "margarita-gate" was manufactured by Bukele and his officials after they posted a photo of his meeting with Abrego Garcia at a table with what appeared to be filled margarita glasses. The senator said those glasses were put on the table partway during the meeting by El Salvador officials and that neither he nor the deportee touched the drinks.
"Everything happens because Bukele says it could happen. And if you look at the video you sent out right afterwards with the fake margaritas, you can see that all of that was a setup," Van Hollen told reporters. The senator poked holes in the story that was being spread by Bukele's and Trump's allies and said the entire meeting was suspect from the beginning.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/margarita-gate-sen-chris-van-hollen-slams-efforts/story?id=120975361