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Liberals Melt Down Over DeSantis Flying Migrants To Martha’s Vineyard

(Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

Nicole Silverio Media Reporter
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Liberal figures melted down over Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ policy of transporting illegal migrants from Florida to Massachusetts.

The Florida governor sent two planes of illegal migrants to the upscale Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday as part of a broader effort to transport these migrants to Democrat-run sanctuary cities. Liberals immediately condemned the actions, even accusing the governor of “inhumane” authoritarianism, though the governor later confirmed that the 50 migrants boarded the planes voluntarily. 

Filmmaker Ken Burns compared the governor’s move to the Holocaust during a Thursday appearance on CNN. Burns recently co-directed a documentary mini-series on the role on the U.S. response to the Holocaust, which is set to premier on Sept. 18, according to PBS.

“It’s the abstraction of human life. It’s basically saying that you can use a human life that is as valuable as yours or mine … and to put it in a position of becoming a political pawn in somebody’s authoritarian game,” Burns said on CNN. “This is coming straight out of the authoritarian playbook, this is what’s so disturbing about DeSantis is to use human beings, to weaponize beings for a political purpose, it’s like when somebody disagrees with him in Florida, like the Walt Disney Company, he punishes them.”

“This is not the actions of somebody participating in a democratic process, in an exchange of ideas, this is about punishing political enemies, putting on a show, these political shows, political theater and in this case, this is with the lives of human beings,” Burns continued. (RELATED: CNN Host & Ken Burns Compare DeSantis Sending Migrants To Martha’s Vineyard To The Holocaust) 

Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams also condemned the governor’s move Thursday morning, vowing that his city and state will not handle the migrant crisis in such a manner. The mayor has previously clashed with Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who recently bussed migrants to his city.

“We are not going to be like those municipalities and states where we fly people to Martha’s Vineyard, where we put people on buses and have them fail to get the basic items they need,” he said. “And anyone who states that this administration does not have a handle on this crisis, they must have been sleeping under a rock.”

Left-wing figures on social media also raged about DeSantis’ action, including The Nation’s justice correspondent, Elie Mystal, who claimed that Abbott was guilty of “human trafficking.”

“Republicans governors are now engaged in human trafficking but for some reason that’s not the story on every network,” Mystal tweeted.

“Republicans who call themselves Christians have been plotting for some time to use human lives – men, women, and children – as a political pawns. It is evil and inhumane,” Democratic Massachusetts state Rep. Dylan Fernandes wrote.

“The supposedly godless, east coast heathens of Martha’s Vineyard demonstrated more of Christ’s grace and love in welcoming refugees with open arms than the supposedly Christ-loving Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida could ever hope to do,” activist Charlotte Clymer wrote. “I just want reporters to ask Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis and every other churchgoing Republican point blank: What does Christ say about immigrants and refugees?”

This story has been updated with DeSantis’ statement that all migrants sent to Martha’s Vineyard boarded their flights voluntarily.