Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a brutal truth that made one Democrat Senator squirm in his seat during a heated exchange.
The Democrat wasn’t happy about what he heard.
And Marco Rubio just humiliated a Senator who visited an alleged “Maryland Man” gangbanger.
Democrat Senator regrets voting for Rubio
Democrat Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen confronted Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a Senate hearing on Tuesday, expressing his regret for voting to confirm him.
Van Hollen was upset about the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an alleged MS-13 gang member who was deported to El Salvador.
“I have to tell you directly in person that I regret voting for you for Secretary of State,” Van Hollen said.
Rubio wasn’t about to let this accusation go unanswered.
“May I respond? Well first of all, your regret for voting for me means that I’m doing a good job,” Rubio fired back after the senator finished his remarks.
This unexpected response clearly hit a nerve with Van Hollen, who replied, “That’s just a flippant statement, Mr. Secretary.”
But Rubio wasn’t done. He delivered the knockout punch by referencing Van Hollen’s bizarre decision to personally visit the alleged gang member in El Salvador.
“We deported gang members… including the one that you had a margarita with,” Rubio continued. “And that guy is a human trafficker and that guy is a gangbanger and the evidence is gonna be clear. In the day to come, you’re gonna see who you went to defend.”
Rubio to Van Hollen: “We deported gang members — including the one you had a margarita with” 😂pic.twitter.com/Fne7Zg3Zc5
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 20, 2025
The dangerous gangbanger Democrats are defending
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is no ordinary illegal immigrant. According to documents released by the Department of Justice on April 16, Garcia illegally entered the U.S. from El Salvador in 2011.
In March 2019, he was found loitering in a Home Depot parking lot wearing “a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie with rolls of money covering the eyes, ears and mouth of the presidents on the separate denominations,” which authorities note represents a sign of “good standing” with the notoriously violent MS-13 gang.
The evidence against Garcia goes well beyond his gang affiliation. In December 2019, the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed Garcia’s challenge to an immigration judge’s finding that he is “a verified member of MS-13.”
Authorities also suspected Garcia of human trafficking on a Tennessee highway in 2022 after they discovered he was transporting eight passengers with no apparent luggage. The car belonged to an illegal immigrant named Jose Ramon Hernandez-Reyes, who was sent to prison in 2020 for human smuggling.
Perhaps most disturbing is Garcia’s alleged domestic violence. His wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, sought a domestic violence restraining order against Garcia in 2021, according to court documents released by the Department of Homeland Security. She accused her husband of scratching and punching her eye, ripping her shirt and skirt off, and making her bleed by throwing her laptop on the ground.
Democrat politicians fly to El Salvador on taxpayer’s dime
Despite the mountain of evidence against Garcia, Van Hollen actually traveled to El Salvador to visit the alleged MS-13 member and was photographed sitting across from him at a restaurant.
When questioned about this unusual diplomatic mission, Van Hollen confirmed on April 21 that his trip to visit Garcia was funded by U.S. taxpayers.
Van Hollen wasn’t alone in this strange crusade. Democrat Representatives Maxwell Frost of Florida, Robert Garcia of California, Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, and Maxine Dexter of Oregon also traveled to El Salvador to visit Garcia and protest against the Trump administration’s deportation policy.
While the administration stated that Garcia’s deportation was a “clerical error,” they maintained that he should remain in El Salvador due to his past criminal activity.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in an April 10 decision that the administration must “facilitate” the return of Garcia, though El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said during an April 14 Oval Office meeting that he will not return him to the United States.
Rubio’s direct confrontation with Van Hollen highlights the stark contrast between Republicans focusing on protecting American communities from dangerous criminals and Democrats who seem more concerned with advocating for alleged gang members than addressing the border crisis.
