Trump Throws Tantrum Over Real Time Fact Checking

Donald Trump complained that an interviewer, Terry Moran, wasn’t “being very nice” when he refused to co-sign the president’s lies about a Maryland dad who was mistakenly deported.

During an interview with Terry Moran to mark the first (terrible) 100 days as president, Trump insisted that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador’s brutal CECOT concentration camp, had “MS-13” tattooed across his knuckles.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran migrant who lived in the U.S. legally with a work permit and was deported to El Salvador in March despite his legal status.

“There’s a dispute about that,” Moran said, trying to move on to the next topic.

“Wait a minute. Wait a minute,” Trump objected. “He had ‘MS-13’ on his knuckles, tattooed.”

“He had some tattoos that are interpreted that way,” Moran clarified. “But let’s move on.”

Earlier this month, Trump posted a photo on social media of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s hand showing four tattoos—a marijuana leaf, a smiley face, a cross, and a skull. In the picture, the numbers and letters “M-S-1-3” were photoshopped above each tattoo to argue that the symbols were a code to signify gang membership.

Experts, however, have said the tattoos are not associated with any criminal gang that originated among Salvadoran immigrants.

Some members of the gang have been known to tattoo the gang’s colloquial name “MS-13” on their bodies, along with images of devil horns. But a community activist who had worked with gang members for more than 25 years said he had never seen a gang member with Abrego Garcia’s knuckle tattoos.

A former gang member turned professor consulted current gang members, and even they don’t think the tattoos stand for MS-13.

“Wait a minute. Terry. Terry, Terry,” Trump said during Tuesday’s interview, refusing to move on.

“He did not have the letter ‘M-S-1-3,’” Moran said.

“It says ‘M-S-1-3,’” Trump insisted.

“That was Photoshopped,” Moran said.

When Trump first shared the photoshopped hit job on April 19, internet sleuths argued it was misleading because Trump did not make it clear that the image had been digitally altered to include the alleged gang “context.”

MAGAs countered that it was obvious the letters and numbers had been added to illustrate the "real meaning" of the tattoos. Trump’s exchange with Moran, however, made it very clear that Trump believed the letters and numbers were part of the original tattoo.

“That was Photoshopped? Terry you can’t do that,” Trump told Moran.

“Hey, they’re giving you the big break of a lifetime,” he continued. “You’re doing the interview. I picked you because—frankly I never heard of you but that’s OK. I picked you but you’re not being very nice. He had ‘MS-13’ tattooed—”

“We’ll agree to disagree. I want to move on to something else,” Moran said.

“Terry. Terry. Do you want me to show you the picture?” Trump said.

Moran said he’d seen it and repeated again that Abrego Garcia only had tattoos that could be “interpreted” as evidence of gang membership. He then tried to turn the topic of conversation to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but Trump wouldn't get past the fact-check.

Trump's regime has tried to justify deporting Abrego Garcia by saying he’s a “terrorist” and a member of the notorious MS-13 gang. They deported him despite being married to a U.S. citizen and working full-time, legally, as a sheet metal apprentice. He doesn’t have a criminal record, and no court has found him to be a member of a gang.

“No, no. Terry. Terry,” Trump insisted. “No, no. No, no. He had ‘M-S’ as clear as you can be, not ‘interpreted.’ This is why people no longer believe the news, because—”

Moran then calmly pointed out that the word “MS-13” doesn’t appear in any of the photos of Abrego Garcia that have been taken since he was deported to El Salvador.

“He’s got ‘MS-13’ on his knuckles, okay?” Trump said. “You’re just such a disservice. Why don’t you just say, ‘Yes he does’ and go on to something else?”

“It’s contested,” Moran replied, attempting once again to move on. “Ukraine.”