Senator Van Hollen Douses ‘Margarita-Gate’ After Salvadoran Prison Visit: ‘No One Took a Sip’

Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is adamant: the viral ‘margarita-gate’ photo-op was just that—a staged moment, not a happy hour. Fresh off his trip to El Salvador to meet Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a deported Salvadoran national at the center of a political and legal firestorm, Van Hollen tried to tamp down the drama as he landed back in Virginia.

The now infamous image, posted by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, showed Van Hollen and Garcia at a table with two untouched, salt-rimmed drinks. Van Hollen’s explanation? "Neither of us touched the drinks," he told reporters, even giving a quick lesson in forensics: if anyone had taken a sip, the salt or sugar rim would show a gap. But the glasses, he said, were pristine. In other words, Sherlock Holmes would’ve left the scene unimpressed.

He claimed the beverages appeared after the meeting started, a move he called a calculated photo-op by Bukele’s camp. Van Hollen accused both the Salvadoran leader and the Trump administration of using the photo to distract from what he called a constitutional crisis over Garcia’s deportation.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump couldn’t resist weighing in, lambasting Van Hollen on social media as a “grandstander” and mocking the senator’s El Salvador trip as a bid for media attention. Never one for subtlety, Trump also posted a photo of Garcia’s hand, claiming it bore MS-13 gang tattoos, and insisted Democrats were trying to bring “bad people” back into the country.

The case itself is a powder keg. Garcia, 29, was deported from Maryland last month and is currently locked up in El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison. Federal officials in court called the deportation an "administrative error," while Van Hollen and fellow Democrats argue that Garcia was denied his right to due process. The Trump administration, however, has cited Garcia’s alleged gang ties, domestic abuse claims from his wife, and suspicions of human trafficking as justification for his removal.

Van Hollen maintains that no court has seen actual evidence linking Garcia to MS-13 or terrorism, pointing to rulings by both a federal district court and the Supreme Court ordering Garcia’s return. He quoted a recent decision warning against allowing the government to "stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process." Judge Paula Xinis, who reviewed the case, reportedly found no evidence tying Garcia to MS-13 or terrorist activities.

Despite all the noise, Trump’s supporters are hammering Van Hollen for advocating on behalf of someone with such a questionable background, especially when high-profile cases like the murder of Maryland’s Rachel Morin—allegedly by an illegal immigrant—are still raw in the public’s mind. The White House even posted a pointed side-by-side photo: Trump meeting Morin’s mother; Van Hollen sitting with Garcia. The caption? "We are not the same." Subtlety, apparently, is out of style in D.C. these days.

Van Hollen defended his trip as a matter of constitutional principle, saying courts exist to both punish the guilty and protect those not proven guilty from arbitrary detention. He also revealed that the U.S. had pledged $15 million to support detention operations in El Salvador, with $4 million already spent—a commitment he now vows to oppose unless Garcia’s situation is resolved lawfully.

Asked about critics who question his priorities, Van Hollen said his "heart breaks" for victims like Morin but argued that upholding due process is non-negotiable. The debate, much like those margaritas, isn’t going down easy on either side.