Ezra Klein
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Again, I want to quote the National Review. You don't have to take it from me, which writes... This is a ridiculous pretense, because the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, will clearly do anything we ask.
Again, I want to quote the National Review. You don't have to take it from me, which writes... This is a ridiculous pretense, because the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, will clearly do anything we ask.
If the deputy assistant secretary of state for Latin America requested that he ride a unicycle wrapped in an American flag in San Salvador's Central Square, Bukele would probably ask whether it should be a Betsy Ross flag or the traditional stars and stripes. If nothing else, if nothing else, Trump could slap those tariffs he is so fond of on El Salvador. But we are not angry at Bukele here.
If the deputy assistant secretary of state for Latin America requested that he ride a unicycle wrapped in an American flag in San Salvador's Central Square, Bukele would probably ask whether it should be a Betsy Ross flag or the traditional stars and stripes. If nothing else, if nothing else, Trump could slap those tariffs he is so fond of on El Salvador. But we are not angry at Bukele here.
We, the government of America, are paying Bukele to imprison Abrego Garcia and others. Bukele is not doing this against Donald Trump's wishes. He is Donald Trump's subcontractor. That Oval Office meeting between Trump and Bukele was a moment when the mask fully slipped off. I thought Jon Stewart pinpointed part of its horror well.
We, the government of America, are paying Bukele to imprison Abrego Garcia and others. Bukele is not doing this against Donald Trump's wishes. He is Donald Trump's subcontractor. That Oval Office meeting between Trump and Bukele was a moment when the mask fully slipped off. I thought Jon Stewart pinpointed part of its horror well.
It came through so clearly how much they were loving it. Each of them declaring that there was nothing they could do for Rego Garcia. No way to allow him his day in court. No way to allow the American legal system to do its job and assess whether he's a danger. No way to follow the clear order of the Supreme Court. And from their perspective, maybe they're right.
It came through so clearly how much they were loving it. Each of them declaring that there was nothing they could do for Rego Garcia. No way to allow him his day in court. No way to allow the American legal system to do its job and assess whether he's a danger. No way to follow the clear order of the Supreme Court. And from their perspective, maybe they're right.
Because here's a scary thing that I think sits, at least partially, beneath their calculus. Politically, they cannot let Abrego Garcia out, nor any of the other people they sent to Seacott without due process. Because what if he was released? What if he returned to the United States? What if he could tell his own story?
Because here's a scary thing that I think sits, at least partially, beneath their calculus. Politically, they cannot let Abrego Garcia out, nor any of the other people they sent to Seacott without due process. Because what if he was released? What if he returned to the United States? What if he could tell his own story?
What if, as seems quite likely, he's been brutalized and tortured by Trump's Salvadoran henchmen? Well, he can't be allowed to tell the American people that. To the Trump administration, Obrego Garcia is not a mistake. He's a liability, and he's a test. A test of their power to do this to anyone.
What if, as seems quite likely, he's been brutalized and tortured by Trump's Salvadoran henchmen? Well, he can't be allowed to tell the American people that. To the Trump administration, Obrego Garcia is not a mistake. He's a liability, and he's a test. A test of their power to do this to anyone.
A test of whether the loophole they believe they have found, a loophole where if they could just get you on a plane, then they can hustle you beyond our laws and leave you in the grips of the kind of gulags they wish that they had here. They're not ashamed of this. They're not denying their desire to do it to more people. This is how dictatorships work.
A test of whether the loophole they believe they have found, a loophole where if they could just get you on a plane, then they can hustle you beyond our laws and leave you in the grips of the kind of gulags they wish that they had here. They're not ashamed of this. They're not denying their desire to do it to more people. This is how dictatorships work.
Trump has always been clear about who he is and the kind of power he wants. And now he's using that power. And everyone around him is defending his right to wield that power. Marco Rubio.
Trump has always been clear about who he is and the kind of power he wants. And now he's using that power. And everyone around him is defending his right to wield that power. Marco Rubio.
Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.