By Dr. Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker
The phrase “the hill you choose to die on” is an expression meaning a belief, opinion, or position that one is fiercely committed to defending, even when it is impractical or contrary to one’s long-term goals. It suggests a willingness to fight or resist to the point of losing, rather than pivoting, conceding, or compromising.
In the political world, most players lack conviction or principles. They are swayed by the political winds, the latest opinion polls, or the size of the most recent campaign contributions they receive. Their positions are primarily situational, influenced by their proximity to the next reelection bid or which Sunday morning talk show has invited them as guests.
Democrats, finding themselves in the minority during President Donald Trump’s second term, are attempting to stem their political bleeding by choosing odd hills to stand on in an effort to bolster their political appeal ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Fortunately for Trump and his party, Democrats are selecting sinkholes rather than hills.
As Trump settles into his three-month groove, Democrats are grasping at political straws, trying to derail the Trump train. Rasmussen Reports shows Trump with a solid 50 percent approval rating among likely US voters.
A new Daily Mail poll places his current approval rating at 54 percent, tying with his all-time highest. This is after the recent tariff chaos.
Start with immigration and Trump’s deportation of illegal aliens. According to a Pew Research Center poll, “Of the roughly 51% of adults who support at least some deportation of illegal immigrants, nearly all support deporting those who commit violent crimes, according to the poll.”
Democrats are standing up for criminal illegal aliens and ignoring the victims of such crimes. When President Trump acknowledged one such victim in his recent congressional address, all Democrats sat on their hands, refusing to stand or applaud.
More recently, the White House acknowledged and honored the mother of Rachel Morin, who was raped and murdered by an illegal alien from El Salvador. Corporate media, which serve as an arm of the Democrat party, devoted zero minutes of coverage to this story.
Yet these networks spent over an hour covering the “Maryland Man” deported to El Salvador. This pillar of his Maryland community was actually alleged to be an active member of the MS-13 gang and was in America illegally. This alleged wife-beater, with a previous deportation order, is the new George Floyd or Trayvon Martin for the Democrats, a hero, a role model.
Garcia is also “suspected of partaking in labor/human trafficking, according to Homeland Security Investigations memo.” Are Democrats truly hitching their wagon to this guy? Yes, they are.
Rather than supporting the millions of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, prominent Democrats are pinning their hopes on sympathy for this illegal alien thug. Senator Chris Van Hollen beclowned himself by flying to El Salvador, at the expense of US taxpayers, to plead for the thug’s return to the US.
Garcia was reportedly being held in El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison, a “Maryland man” whisked away by the bad Orange Man to face torture and abuse. Imagine a day later seeing Van Hollen with his new BFF dressed in country club plaid, sharing drinks with the Maryland Senator. He was “miraculously risen from the dead,” as El Salvador President Nayib Bukele observed.
Supporting criminal illegal aliens over his constituents is nothing new for Senator Von Hollen. He voted no on the Laken Riley Act, which mandates the federal detention of illegal immigrants who are accused of theft, burglary, assaulting a law enforcement officer, and any crime that causes death or serious bodily injury.
Democrats want to die on the hill of criminal illegal aliens and condemn any Americans who advocate for the safety and well-being of themselves and their families.