In an interesting editorial choice, CNN NewsNight host Abby Phillip elected to keep credibly-accused human trafficker, wifebeater and MS-13 gangbanger Kilmar Abrego García off the table and away from any meaningful panel discussion. Phillip instead elected to do a brief blurb on Abrego García to close the show.
Watch the ending segment of CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip, as aired on Monday, August 25th, 2025:
INTERESTING EDITORIAL CHOICE: Discussion of the latest on presumed MS-13 gangbanger, human trafficker and wife beater Kilmar Abrego García is left OFF the NewsNight table, held until the very end of the show. pic.twitter.com/OPxLepTNaj
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) August 26, 2025
ABBY PHILLIP: A federal judge says that she'll order officials to keep Kilmar Abrego Garcia in the United States during new legal deportation proceedings. And tonight, DHS is showing new video of Abrego Garcia in custody. He was detained by immigration officials after turning himself in. And officials say that they want to deport him to Uganda as soon as the end of the week. He's challenging that deportation, and the judge says that she needs some more time to decide whether officials are violating Abrego García’s rights. Now, Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador earlier this year and was returned to the U.S. in June. He was released from custody in Tennessee on Friday. He faces charges of criminal human smuggling, and his trial is set to be in January. And thank you very much for watching NewsNight. Laura Coates Live starts right now.
A cynical news analyst might call this “bias by story selection”, a common practice within the legacy media when it comes to choosing what stories to air. A similar phenomenon occurs quite frequently within the legacy newscasts. For example, last night’s legacy news prioritized advocacy coverage of Abrego García over both the Abbey Gate Gate Gold Star Families’ Oval Office visit, and the latest with regard to the illegal alien truck driver that killed 3 people when he made an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike.
NewsNight’s rundown consisted of: the latest on Trump’s D.C. crime crackdown and its potential application to Chicago, Trump’s firing of Fed Governor Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud, Chris Christie, the Intel deal, potential layoffs at John Deere, and flag burning. Keeping Abrego García off the table when he has been made into the face of the ongoing immigration enforcement initiative is a deliberate choice.
It should be noted that former Democratic National Committee Chairman Jamie Harrison was among the panel last night, a fact that might almost fly under the radar with the terminally unhinged former MSNBC host Tiffany Cross at the table as well. Reasonable individuals may conclude that the topics were curated so as to avoid putting leftwing panelists in the position of having to defend Biden policy decisions such as flinging the border wide open or catastrophically withdrawing from Afghanistan.
Instead, Phillip and company spent the night throwing chaff at Brad Todd and Arthur Aidala. Immigration, via its martyr-designate Abrego García, was only addressed at the end of the night, safely away from the panel- covered under a Thunder-lid instead of in the “Thunderdome”. Once again we are reminded that if it weren’t for double standards, there would be none at all.
