The Left Has a Hero Problem

The Left Has a Hero Problem

In a sane world, the Left’s fanatical support for Kilmar Abrego Garcia—an alleged illegal immigrant, domestic abuser, and likely MS-13 gang member—would be shocking. But given their equally obsessive solidarity with degenerates like Hamas sympathizer Mahmoud Khalil; Jordan Neely, a deranged, drug-addicted man who boarded a New York City subway and issued death threats to passengers; and Luigi Mangione, the prime suspect in the December murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO—it’s exactly what we’ve come to expect.

The Left’s admiration for these individuals and their eagerness to elevate them as heroes reveals not only their ideological extremism but also the glaring hypocrisy between the values they claim to uphold and the radical positions they continually embrace.

During a Thursday night CNN panel discussion, the topic turned to Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s (D-MD) meeting with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador. The network’s lone conservative voice, Scott Jennings, told colleagues he didn’t “understand why the American Left falls in love with the worst people.”

“Boy, the party of women is really covering itself in glory,” he said. “You’ve got a gang-banging, human trafficking, wife-beating illegal alien and a United States senator in a ludicrous display of energy, is in El Salvador having Mai Tais and Yahtzee. I do not get it. I do not understand why the Left takes on heroes like that.”

Jennings continued, “He has an adjudicated deportation order, and you have Democrat public officials falling all over themselves trying to get him back here without thinking through the next step, which is he’s literally going to be deported somewhere else.”

Batya Ungar-Sargon, an honest liberal, argued that Abrego Garcia “did have due process. Everything we know about him is documented because he did go through the court system. He was stopped for [human] trafficking. His wife did file these domestic violence charges against him. He was arrested with MS-13 gang members with a roll of cash that had the eyes and the ears and the mouths of the presidents erased, which is an MS-13 marking. This is all non-disputed.”

Wanna see @bungarsargon & me cook Senator @ChrisVanHollen & a panel on the Garcia / El Salvador case? Yeah you do. Why does the Left fall in love with the worst people? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/Df8gRXO49U

— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) April 18, 2025

Earlier this month, following a verbal dispute between two 17-year-old boys at a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas, Karmelo Anthony, who is black, pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed Austin Metcalf, a white student.

Anthony was initially held on a $1 million bond. After his lawyers claimed the amount was excessive, the bond was reduced to $250,000. Anthony claims he acted in self-defense.

His supporters have launched a GiveSendGo campaign, which has already raised nearly $500,000.

One has to wonder how the legacy media’s coverage—strikingly sympathetic to Anthony—might differ if the races were reversed. And how the political Left will react if Anthony is ultimately convicted of murder.

SAY HIS NAME: Austin Metcalf (17)

High achieving student, athlete, 4.0 GPA. KiIIed in cold bIood by Karmelo Anthony.

Zero national outrage. pic.twitter.com/bzcq0P1wdc

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 3, 2025

Earlier this week, the ever-repellent, far-left journalist Taylor Lorenz praised Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate who allegedly stalked and fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two, outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel last December.

“Here’s this man who, who’s a revolutionary, who’s famous, who’s handsome, who’s young, who’s smart — he’s a person that seems like a morally good man, which is hard to find,” she said, laughing.

A morally good man? What is wrong with this woman?

Taylor Lorenz on Luigi Mangioni: "Here’s this man who, who’s a revolutionary, who’s famous, who’s handsome, who’s young, who’s smart — he’s a person that seems like a morally good man, which is hard to find."pic.twitter.com/jnlnOAfqkP

— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) April 13, 2025

Prior to Abrego Garcia, the Left’s cause célèbre was Mahmoud Khalil, an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent who was taken into custody by immigration authorities for his leadership role in last year’s anti-Israel protests at Columbia University. Khalil, a green-card holder and recent Columbia graduate, was a member of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a student group that “fights for the total eradication of Western civilization.”

According to the City Journal:

CUAD was one of the primary agents of chaos on Columbia’s campus during last spring’s “encampment,” during which rioters smashed windows, defaced and occupied buildings, disrupted classes, and harassed and threatened Jewish students.

Democrats, including senators, seeking to prevent Khalil’s deportation launched a “Free Khalil” campaign, arguing that he had been targeted merely for expressing controversial opinions. They overlooked the fact that Khalil not only voiced his pro-Hamas beliefs but also acted on them, leading to a protest that quickly escalated into illegal activity.

Despite their best efforts, an immigration judge approved Khalil’s deportation last week.

🚨🚨🚨BREAKING: Immigration Judge Approves Trump Administration’s Deportation of Mahmoud Khalil

Khalil, a foreign student at Columbia University, is the leader of a student group that praised Hamas and distributed pamphlets associated with designated terrorist organizations. pic.twitter.com/PZssLmJu5c

— Shelley G (@ShelleyGldschmt) April 11, 2025

Last year, the Left became fixated on the trial of Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old Marine veteran and architecture student charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

In May 2023, Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man struggling with mental illness and under the influence of K2, a potent synthetic drug, boarded a Manhattan subway car and began shouting death threats at passengers. Penny intervened, subduing Neely with a chokehold that ultimately resulted in his death.

While Neely’s death was undeniably tragic, multiple passengers expressed gratitude for Penny’s swift and decisive action in neutralizing what they saw as a serious threat. Under normal circumstances, that might have been the end of it. But Penny is white, and Neely was black.

The public was shocked two weeks later when New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office caved to left-wing pressure and charged Penny. It was a case that never should have been brought.

Penny was acquitted by a Manhattan jury in December. For many Americans, the verdict symbolized a triumph of justice, restoring faith in our legal system. On the political Left, however, the outcome sparked outrage.

Jordan Neely’s father says “I miss my son.”

He abandoned his son at a young age, let him become a homeless, violent drug addict, and hasn’t seen him in years. pic.twitter.com/ntOBVUH2el

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 9, 2024

There is much truth in an old Japanese proverb, “When the character of a person is not clear, look at their friends.” Similarly, when the character of a political party is uncertain, look at their heroes.

A glance at the unsavory individuals the Left has elevated over the years reveals all we need to know about Democrats’ character. It also offers a clear explanation for why the party’s approval rating is currently sitting at a record low.

Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on LinkedIn or X.

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