Lawrence O’Donnell Says Trump Has ‘Constitutional Dementia’ After Kilmar Abrego Garcia Deportation, Harvard Freeze | Video

Lawrence O’Donnell laid into President Donald Trump on Monday’s “The Last Word,” expressing disdain for the administration’s latest moves against the wrongfully deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia and Harvard University. The MSNBC host said that both developments in the last week showcase the president and his men’s “Constitutional dementia” for what is and isn’t legal in the White House.

“Donald Trump is the only president who believes he can snatch anyone off the streets in the United States, send that person to El Salvador, find out later that that person never committed a crime and is a citizen of the United States — or any other mistake Donald Trump made in the seizure of that person — and Donald Trump can leave that person in prison, in El Salvador, for the rest of time,” O’Donnell fumed in the nearly 20-minute segment, which you can watch below.

The host began the segment by breaking down some of the details of that case, which saw Maryland resident Garcia deported to El Salvador due to an “administrative error” — as ruled by the Supreme Court itself. Still, key officials within the administration like Stephen Miller are denying the error and refusing to return him to the United States.

“That is the Constitutional dementia of Donald Trump,” O’Donnell lambasted.

The journalist then turned his attention to the latest controversy within the administration this week, this time involving what he called the “oldest American,” Harvard University (founded 1636). On Friday, Trump lawyers sent a letter to Harvard leadership and demanded “absurdly and stupidly vague things” as they relate to admissions, curriculum, staffing and DEI.

O’Donnell said that Trump’s goal was essentially to instate himself as the university’s president. (“Imagine Donald Trump sitting there in the Oval Office deciding who should be admitted to a university,” he said.) When the university decisively refused on Monday, the administration moved forward with freezing over $2 billion in multiyear grants for the school and its research facilities.

“Donald Trump and his lawyers brought the same Constitutional dementia to an attack on our oldest American,” O’Donnell continued, later adding: “More presidents of the United States went to Harvard than any other school, and not one of those previous presidents of the United States, whether they went to Harvard or not, ever attempted to seize control over Harvard University, as Donald Trump attempted to do before he got crushed by the oldest institution in America today.”

The rest of the segment largely detailed the contributions in science, tech and beyond that Harvard has made to the United States and the world at large, the creation of anesthesia and development of the smallpox vaccine among them.

“Harvard University has helped us all on this planet in more ways than we know and saved the lives of loved ones in more ways than we know,” O’Donnell said.

Watch the full “The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell” segment via MSNBC below.

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