Donald Trump is reportedly furious with Ron DeSantis, as he claimed that the Florida Governor stole his thunder – and also his idea – when he made the decision to relocate 48 illegal migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts.
DeSantis – who is now regarded as a potential 2024 presidential candidate – chartered two planes to bring 48 Venezuelan migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday, September 14th, which just so happens to be a very liberal area of the country.
Volunteers unload dinner for the 48 migrants flown here from Texas courtesy of Florida @GovRonDeSantis. They are spending another night on the Vineyard #wcvb pic.twitter.com/PDdnYof3oK
— Sharman Sacchetti (@SharmanTV) September 15, 2022
According to Rolling Stone, two sources have claimed that the 76-year-old former president “complained” about DeSantis, 44, to some of his inner circle, reportedly telling them that Florida’s Republican governor is “attempting to take the national news cycle away from him.” He also said that he believes the “credit” for shipping the migrants to Martha’s Vineyard by plane “should be his.”
The Rolling Stone report says: “Trump has fumed over all the praise DeSantis’ action has been receiving in influential conservative circles lately — such as on right-wing media like Fox News — and has privately accused DeSantis of doing this largely to generate a 2024 polling boost for himself among GOP voters.”
According to Reuters, the migrants were reportedly living at a shelter in San Antonio and were tricked into boarding the plane, as they believed they were actually going to Boston. We don’t know why Trump wants the credit for this stunt, as many people have accused DeSantis of "political human trafficking," which talk show host and political commentator Sean Hannity discussed with DeSantis in more detail. Hannity asked DeSantis to clarify that, contrary to earlier reports, the migrants were fully aware of what was happening, and willing to make the journey…
"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 the governor.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on migrants being sent to Martha's Vineyard: "It was clearly voluntary, and all the other nonsense you're hearing is just not true." pic.twitter.com/IX0GTItIgf
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) September 20, 2022
"Yeah," DeSantis confirmed. "And not only that — they all signed consent forms to go," he continued. "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."
DeSantis and Trump are both leading contenders for the 2024 Republican presidential ticket, although neither of them has made an official announcement as of yet. Trump keeps teasing that a formal declaration is coming imminently, while a rep for DeSantis, on the other hand, reportedly told Insider back in July that he is "focused on Florida and running for re-election as governor this year." Watch this space!
