DNC Vice Chair David Hogg and former Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus went head-to-head Sunday on ABC’s This Week. The clash ignited over the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a controversial case that's drawn attention from both sides of the aisle. Priebus took the first swing, saying if he ran the DNC, he’d kick Hogg out.
"It’s $20 million out of the DNC’s pocket,” Priebus said, attacking Hogg’s pledge to primary older Democrats. “You can’t be on the board of the fishing and forest company and on Greenpeace at the same time."
Hogg’s plan hasn’t landed well with fellow Democrats either. One longtime strategist called him a "contemptible little twerp." Priebus used that momentum to claim the Democrats were falling apart.
"The Democrats are a complete mess. They have no movement… They have no message… They have no leader," Priebus said. "You’re defending Harvard, you’re traveling to El Salvador to defend MS-13 gang members."
He was talking about Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s recent trip to El Salvador. Van Hollen met with Garcia, who was deported despite a court order. Garcia, living in Maryland, had no criminal record when he was sent to one of the country’s most notorious prisons.
Trump officials say Garcia is part of MS-13 and pointed to past abuse allegations from his wife. Van Hollen pushed for Garcia’s release anyway. But by the time the senator arrived, Garcia had already been moved to another prison.
Hogg pushed back hard, saying Priebus was twisting the facts. “This was not an MS-13 gang member, and you damn well know that," Hogg shot back. "The administration admitted this was wrong."
"In America, we have due process. We are a land of law and order," Hogg added. "They do not care about the rule of law, and you cannot defend sending people to another country where they don’t have rights."
Priebus fired back with poll numbers. He said most Americans support mass deportations and insisted “every intel community agency” had labeled Garcia as MS-13.