Hakeem Jeffries refuses to say whether Dems tone-deaf trips to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador were a mistake

WASHINGTON — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has dodged questions about whether it was a “mistake” for Democrats to visit an alleged MS-13 gangbanger deported to El Salvador last month — but claimed Wednesday his caucus will continue agitating for the man’s return.Jeffries took part Sunday for nearly 12 hours in a livestream alongside Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ) on the US Capitol steps — and praised Rep.

Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) for having flown to Central America to oppose Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s detention in the notorious CECOT megaprison.The Democratic leader also backed Sen.Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) in an MSNBC appearance last week for displaying “great leadership” by meeting with Garcia for a photo-op in El Salvador, calling it “exactly the type of action that, as members of Congress, we can do to highlight the injustice, dramatize and amplify it and force the administration to comply.”But asked by a reporter Tuesday whether he agreed with Rep.

Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) that it was a “mistake rallying around” the accused gang member, Jeffries deflected.“Our reaction is that Donald Trump has the lowest approval rating of any president in modern American history,” he said.One Democratic lawmaker and some staffers also told The Bulwark that the House minority leader has been privately telling his caucus to “slow down” on “the El Salvador stuff.” “This is patently false, and thinly sourced innuendo,” Jeffries spokeswoman Christie Stephenson responded to The Post in a statement.“When Leader Jeffries says ‘more is more’ pushback on this lawless administration, he means it.As Leader Jeffries has repeatedly said, House Democrats will never stop fighting for the release of Mr.

Abrego Garcia.”Abrego Garcia illegally entered the US in 2011 and later met and married his wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura in June 2019 — while Garcia was in an immigration detention center contesting his deportation under the first Trump admini...