On Hannity Monday night, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis attempted to dismiss accusations that he engaged in a stunt when he flew about 50 migrants to Martha’s Vineyard last week, instead claiming that President Joe Biden engaged in “the biggest stunt” by not going along with his predecessor’s immigration policies.
While some have accused the governor of “political human trafficking,” Sean Hannity helped DeSantis portray his actions as acceptable to the public at large and welcomed by the migrants themselves.
“Just for the record: this was voluntary. All migrants were put up in hotels, given accommodations, they were fed, they were showered, they were offered haircuts and any other services that were needed, correct?” Hannity asked.
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“Yeah,” DeSantis replied briskly. “And not only that — they all signed consent forms to go. And then the vendor that is doing this for Florida provided them with a packet that had a map of Martha’s Vineyard. It had the numbers for different services on Martha’s Vineyard. And then it had numbers for the overall agencies in Massachusetts that handle things involving immigration and refugees. So it was voluntary. And all of the other nonsense you’re hearing is just not true.”
The “nonsense” DeSantis is referring to could be allegations from migrants that they were transported under false pretenses. Some Democrats have also supported investigations into possible civil rights violations and kidnapping.
DeSantis pointed to the U.S.-Mexico border to defend his decision, which Hannity and other Fox hosts had a field day with last week, as Martha’s Vineyard is a frequent destination for former President Barack Obama.
“I think what we’ve been able to do is show that this border is a disaster. Biden failed on this as much or more than on any other policy, and now people are talking about it,” DeSantis said, later praising former President Donald Trump’s border policies. (Trump, meanwhile, has reportedly bristled at DeSantis’ move, claiming he’s trying to steal his thunder when it comes to policies targeting immigrants.)
Speaking of those in the opposite party, DeSantis continued: “They accused the governors of Arizona, Texas and me of political stunts dealing with illegal immigration.”
“But the biggest stunt was Biden coming into office and reversing Trump’s policies, not because Trump’s policies were not working — he reversed them because he wanted to virtue-signal to his base and he wanted to show that he thought Donald Trump was bad,” DeSantis claimed, adding that Biden knew “what would end up happening.”
“And so he has done — he has pulled the biggest political stunt.”
