Florida governor Ron DeSantis received a standing ovation during a speech in Kansas City after mentioning the stunt where he sent two plane-loads of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard.
‘This is a crisis. It’s now getting a little bit more attention,’ DeSantis said during the speech on Sunday, while talking about how he felt the move had succeeded in generating the type of attention he hoped it would.
‘This border is now an issue in these elections,’ he said. ‘And I think it’s something that our candidates need to take.’
As the crowd rose to their feet to applaud the Republican governor it became clear the move did far more than force border security front and center, but that it also secured DeSantis’ position as a potential candidate to rival Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential ticket.
That momentum converged with a record-breaking fundraising effort for DeSantis’ gubernatorial campaign, which saw him raise $177.4million as of September 9, according to a report from Open Secrets.
DeSantis is up for reelection in Florida’s gubernatorial race this fall, after a term which saw him barely win the governorship in 2018 to becoming one of the GOP’s most prominent stars.
DeSantis received the ovation while speaking at rally for Wisconsin gubernatorial nominee Tim Michels in Olathe, Kansas
Florida governor Ron DeSantis received a standing ovation during a speech in Kansas City after mentioning his stunt where he sent two plane-loads of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard
DeSantis received the ovation while speaking at rally for Wisconsin gubernatorial nominee Tim Michels in Olathe, Kansas.
The crowd took to their feet as DeSantis talked about how the sending of just 50 migrants to the wealthy island enclave of Martha’s Vineyard demonstrated the hypocrisy of liberals and sanctuary city rhetoric.
‘You’re talking about 50 people. Did they get them employed? Did they get them set up? No,’ he said. ‘They called out the National Guard and they deported those people off the island the very next day.’
He talked about how the migrants were ‘given basically a lottery ticket to get to the wealthiest sanctuary jurisdiction in the country,’ while talking about how the summer island had ample job listings and hotels to house the migrants in.
‘Now we see that’s just self-congratulatory virtue signaling,’ said DeSantis.
Despite the Martha’s Vineyard move’s popularity in Kansas, liberals criticized DeSantis for pulling what they characterized as a cruel stunt which used human lives as pawns in a political game.
Among the critics was President Biden, who said DeSantis was ‘playing politics with human beings.’
Many called the situation a humanitarian emergency, while Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker said that Martha’s Vineyard – with a population of 15,000 – is ‘not equipped to provide sustainable accommodation’ to the migrants.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also took aim at DeSantis during a press conference, urging other Republicans who do not agree with his ‘blueprint’ to ‘speak up’.
She said: ‘This is an issue and we have been clear about this, this is an issue that is inhumane it is abhorrent and we should not be using people, migrants, who are fleeing communism as a political pawn.’
One of the fifty migrants (left) Ron DeSantis had flown to Martha’s Vineyard as a part of a political stunt
The Florida governor sent the group of 50 migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, where officials immediately bemoaned the situation, calling in the National Guard to relocate the group because the city allegedly had no shelters available.
The migrants were removed from the island within 48 hours, and relocated by ferry to a military base on Cape Cod.
A spokesperson for DeSantis said in a statement that the trip was part of the state’s ‘relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.’
DeSantis had been following the cue of his Texas and Arizona counterparts, who are busing scores of migrants who crossed into the US illegally to New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.
Texas’ Republican Gov. Greg Abbott sent two busloads of migrants to Harris’ doorstep on Thursday after the vice president claimed the border was ‘secure.’
‘VP Harris claims our border is ‘secure’ & denies the crisis,’ Abbott tweeted, claiming responsibility for the move. ‘We’re sending migrants to her backyard to call on the Biden Administration to do its job & secure the border.’