Donald Trump shared a doctored image of Kilmar Abrego Garcia's hand tattoos. Source: Truth Social/@realDonaldTrump
CNN Anchor Slams Trump for Pushing Doctored Photo of Wrongly Deported Man’s Tattoos
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins ripped into Donald Trump for sharing a doctored photo of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s hand tattoos in a wild attempt to label him a gang member.
The former president posted the controversial image on Truth Social Friday, April 18. The photo falsely showed Abrego Garcia’s left hand inked with a marijuana leaf, smiley face, cross, and skull — arranged to spell out “MS-13” across his knuckles.
Collins didn’t hold back, calling out the post as blatantly misleading and factually false.
During Friday night’s explosive episode of CNN’s The Source, Kaitlan Collins grilled attorney Rina Gandhi about Donald Trump’s doctored MS-13 tattoo claim involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Collins didn’t mince words.
“I want to show you something the president posted tonight,” she said while flashing the controversial image. “It’s a photo of what he claims is your client’s left hand… and the White House says those tattoos prove he’s a member of MS-13.”
Then she dropped the bombshell: “I should note, the photo has been doctored.”
Collins pointed out that the “MS-13” lettering on the knuckles wasn’t real and doesn’t appear in Abrego Garcia’s actual tattoos.
She turned to Gandhi and asked bluntly, “That’s what they’re saying the tattoos portray. What’s your reaction to this photo?”
Gandhi didn’t hold back. “My reaction is, this is just a continuation of the distraction,” she fired back — slamming Trump’s post as nothing more than political misdirection.
Rina Gandhi exploded on CNN, blasting Donald Trump and his administration for wrongfully deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia — then trying to smear his name to cover it up.
“This isn’t about whether Mr. Abrego Garcia is a good person or part of MS-13,” she told Kaitlan Collins during the fiery interview.
“This is about one thing: he was deported without due process.”
The outraged attorney tore into the government for defying three separate court orders demanding Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S.
“If this can happen to him, despite legal victories in court,” she warned, “who’s next?”
Gandhi accused the administration of using distraction tactics and character assassination to justify what she called a clear violation of rights.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported by mistake — a so-called “clerical error” sent him packing. The Supreme Court ordered his safe return, but the Trump administration had other ideas.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi shut the door on Garcia’s return Wednesday, bluntly stating, “He is not coming back to our country. President Bukele said no — that’s the end of the story.”
But not everyone’s backing down.
Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) flew to El Salvador this week to personally fight for Abrego Garcia’s return.
After meeting the wrongfully deported man face-to-face, Van Hollen posted on X (formerly Twitter): “My main goal was to meet Kilmar — tonight I had that chance. I spoke to his wife and passed along his message of love. I’ll share more soon.”
The battle over Abrego Garcia’s fate is heating up — and the world is watching.
