Longtime Democrat strategist James Carville believes that his party's top priority should be rescuing alleged MS-13 member Kilmar Abrego Garcia from prison in El Salvador.
'People say, 'Well, should we really fight on this turf or should we fight more on ordinary people?' And this we should fight on - you can't pivot to an economic issue,' Carville, who famously coined the phrase 'its the economy, stupid,' said.
Speaking with journalist Al Hunt on their 'Politics War Room' podcast, Carville was discussing how liberals should respond to President Donald Trump'sagenda.
Specifically, he mentioned Abrego Garcia's high-profile legal fight with the White Houseover their accidentally deporting the Salvadorian man, who has an American wife and kid.
'This is why we think we are country, and they do this to him,' Carville continued. 'It's an old saying 'first they came for you ... and they came for me.''
'I think this is worthy of being on the top agenda of things that we're going to fight on is get this guy back home,' the Democrat said of Abrego Garcia.
'I completely agree,' Hunt said in response.
Though their advocating for his release comes just as new court documents reveal that Abrego Garcia's wife, Jennifer Vasquez, filed court documents alleging that her husband beat her up multiple times.
Democratic strategist James Carville said the top priority for liberals should be to return Salvadorian Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U.S. from an El Salvador prison
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was an active MS-13 member, he Justice Department has claimed, which is considered a terrorist organization in the U.S.
Jennifer Vasquez, Abrego Garcia's wife, has been advocating for his release. Though this week court documents filed by Vasquez describing how Abrego Garcia used to beat her up came to light, tanking public support for the deported man
A 2021 petition for protection from domestic violence filled out by Vasquez, which was obtained first by DailyMail.com, states that the alleged MS-13 member beat his wife multiple times over the years.
In November 2020, Abrego Garcia hit Vasquez with his work boots, and in August 2020 he hit her in the eye, causing her to get a black eye, according to her petition.
That same day Abrego Garcia started driving quickly, scaring his wife, as their one-year-old was in the back seat.
'In the recording you can hear him yelling, insulting me, driving extreme fast,' Vasquez told authorities.
Later that day she left the residence they shared after being 'afraid to be close to him,' her request continued.
Then in May 2021, after an argument at a gas station, the Salvadorian migrant punched and scratched his wife, 'leaving me bleeding,' Vasquez wrote.
Additional documents released this week reveal that Maryland police claimed Abrego Garcia was a confirmed member of MS-13, though Democrats have claimed that the Salvadorian is an innocent 'Maryland father' who was improperly swept up in Trump's deportation campaign.
Abrego Garcia was deported from the U.S. on March 15
Jennifer Vasquez attends a hearing in the case of her husband Kilmar Abrego Garcia who was deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador due to a Trump administrative error at the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Greenbelt MD on April 15, 2025
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen speaks to the press in La Libertad, El Salvador on Wednesday
Maryland Democrat Sen. Chris Van Hollen even flew down to El Salvador to advocate for Abrego Garcia's release on Wednesday.
But after arriving Van Hollen was denied a meeting with the country's president and was not allowed to visit CECOT, the maximum-security prison where Abrego Garcia is being held.
Still, multiple courts have ruled that the Trump administration must 'facilitate' the alleged gang member's return to the U.S. so that he can go through a proper deportation process.
The Trump administration has previously admitted that Abrego Garcia's deportation was the result of an 'administrative error.'
Regardless, White House officials have stated they have not intention of bringing him back.
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele affirmed on Monday that he has no intentions on releasing Abrego Garcia either.
