Marco Rubio and a viral argument with Senator Van Hollen: 'We deported the gang member you had a margarita with'

Marco Rubio went through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. For a little more than three hours, the secretary of state answered questions from his role as the head of the Trump administration's diplomacy. However, the most talked-about was a barely five-minute discussion he had with Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).

The Democrat began his intervention by harshly criticizing Rubio, first for allegedly turning the refugee process into "a global apartheid system," "throwing Ukrainians under a bus," and then backing the government of Benjamin Netanyahu in its fight against Hamas, among other things.

In turn, he summarized his work as "cruel and despicable."

After making it clear that he was disappointed, the Democratic senator told Rubio: "I have to tell you directly and personally that I regret voting for you for secretary of State." 

Rubio did not remain silent and immediately asked for the floor to respond to Van Hollen, leading to the viral exchange. "Well, first of all, your regret for voting for me confirms I'm doing a good job," he fired back. He then went straight to the case of Kilmar Ábrego García, an illegal immigrant who was deported to El Salvador and accused by the Department of State of being a member of Mara Salvatrucha (M-13), a transnational gang recently designated as a terrorist organization.

However, the Supreme Court ordered President Donald Trump's administration to "facilitate" his return to the United States, claiming that the White House acknowledged that his deportation occurred because of a "clerical error."

The Democratic senator even visited Garcia in El Salvador and took photos with him. In one of them, the two were talking at a table with two margaritas. Van Hollen accused the government of Nayib Bukele of placing those glasses there during the meeting.

In this context, Rubio continued his response by mentioning this episode between the senator and Ábrego García.

"In the case of El Salvador, absolutely, absolutely. We deported gang members, gang members, including the one you had a margarita with. And that guy is a human trafficker, and that guy is a gangbanger," the secretary of state continued, prompting an exaltation from the Democrat, who tried to talk over Rubio but was cut off by Committee Chairman, Jim Risch (R-ID).

The exchange between the two soon went viral on the social media.