White House Senior Director for Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka lashed out at Politico reporter Dasha Burns when pressed about an obviously doctored photo of Maryland man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, alleging he is a member of the gang MS-13.
The Trump administration has admitted to mistakenly sending Abrego Garcia to a Salvadoran mega-prison. But, the administration has ignored rulings, including a 9-0 SCOTUS ruling, to “facilitate” his return.
Instead, Trump administration officials have accused Abrego Garcia of being affiliated with MS-13. They have provided no evidence to support their claims and Abrego Garcia has no criminal convictions in the U.S.
Last month, Donald Trump posted a photoshopped image showing the characters “M,” “S,” “1” and “3” digitally added above Abrego Garcia’s existing hand tattoos — a leaf, a smiley face, a cross and a skull.
At Politico’s Security Summit on Thursday, Gorka brought up that photo to defend sending Abrego Garcia to the notorious Salvadoran prison and lost his cool when Burns pointed out that the photo was obviously doctored to include “M,” “S,” “1,” and “3.”
“How do you know if they’re are members of these gangs?” Burns asked
“You mean the tattoos MS-13 on their knuckles, that doesn’t help it?” Gorka responded. “Do you have tattoos of Al-Qaeda?”
“The tattoo did not say MS-13. I don’t want to get into it,” Burns responded.
Gorka’s response was to attack Politico, calling the outlet ” fake news” for not accepting the Trump administration’s fake photo.
” Of course you don’t. It’s just accidents. The four symbols represent the letters MS. This is why Politico is a joke,” Gorka ranted . “This is why you are gutter press and fake news that those four symbols that just happen to comport with the letters, MS, and the numbers 13, don’t, in this case, represent MS- 13.”
Gorka also accused Burns of “defending a member of MS-13,” adding, “that’s why I regret coming here. Because this isn’t journalism, this is protecting those who hate America. Shame on you. We are saving lives. Saving lives!”
