“The Daily Show” called out the Trump administration Tuesday night for its continued opposition to helping bring deported Maryland immigrant Kilmar Ábrego García back to America after he was sent to a prison in El Salvador.
The “Daily Show” segment aired five days after the Supreme Court upheld an order stating that the government must “facilitate” García’s return. In the days since, the Trump administration has all but refused to do so, with Attorney General Pam Bondi claiming that the U.S. will only provide a plane for García if El Salvador’s government chooses to send him back.
“Donald Trump figured out that when the Supreme Court tells him to do something, he can just ignore them,” “Daily Show” host Ronny Chieng observed. “[This] is why I’m always saying the Supreme Court needs nukes, OK? That’s way more effective than that little hammer.” The comedian then rolled a clip of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele stating that he does not “have the power” to return García to the United States. Bukele’s statement prompted Chieng to joke, “This is like every customer service call I’ve ever been on.”
“The Trump administration isn’t just enjoying their fun, new constitutional loophole. They’re also going on offense,” Chieng continued. He then played a clip of Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, whom Chieng called the “multiverse’s most whiny Lex Luthor,” asking reporters a series of rhetorical questions about García only to get angry when they tried to answer them.
In response to the Trump administration’s insistence that García is a terrorist with ties to MS-13, Chieng remarked, “If he’s a terrorist, he might be the worst terrorist ever. I mean, he’s been in America for 14 years and hasn’t done any terrorism. So maybe Trump is right. Maybe immigrants really are lazy.”
“What is happening here?” Chieng finally asked. “This is America. We don’t just send someone to prison without evidence. We plant the evidence on them! It’s called due process.”
Chieng did note that Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen has announced his intention to travel to El Salvador himself to work on bringing García home.
“Good for the senator for what he’s doing, but it’s got to be at least a little disappointing for Garcia,” Chieng said. “He’s like, ‘Oh, someone’s coming to break me out of prison? Is this SEAL Team 6? Is it the guy from ‘Prison Break’ with the tattoos?’ No, it’s Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen.”
You can watch the full “Daily Show” segment yourself in the video above.
