Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called out a Thursday CNN segment for comparing the relocation of migrants to the Holocaust.
The governor reacted to filmmaker Ken Burns comments to CNN anchor John Berman that relocating some migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, was reminiscent of Germany’s actions during the Holocaust. Burns recently co-directed a documentary about the U.S.’ role in the Holocaust. He compared DeSantis’ transportation of willing migrants to the Holocaust by claiming he is using human lives for political purposes.
“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.”
DeSantis has pushed back against the accusations, confirming Friday that the migrants on two planes sent to Martha’s Vineyard Wednesday evening had boarded voluntarily.
“I saw somebody on CNN try to say sending 50 illegal aliens to wealthy Martha’s Vineyard is reminiscent of the Holocaust and I just thought to myself has the world gone totally mad? I mean, these are voluntary transportations that they’re signing up for, but they’re given a good ride, they’re given everything and that’s a humane thing to do,” the governor said Friday. “What’s not humane is what [President Joe] Biden is doing, he’s given a false promise, the border’s open, luring people to come here for political purposes and then basically cutting these people loose and leaving them high and dry.”
“What he should say is our border is not open, there are ways to apply to this country but just simply barreling across the border is not one of them and I think you can trace all of this back to him coming to office and reversing President Trump’s policies.”
The governor called out liberal mayors in places such as Washington D.C. and New York City for labeling themselves as “sanctuary cities” and then lamenting when migrants enter their cities. (RELATED: Liberals Melt Down Over DeSantis Flying Migrants To Martha’s Vineyard)
The governor mocked Democrats at a Thursday press conference for lambasting the relocation of the migrants, accusing them of “virtue signaling” over illegal immigration to score political points.
“All those people in D.C. in New York were beating their chests when Trump was president, saying they were so proud to be sanctuary jurisdictions saying how bad it was to have a secure border,” DeSantis said. “The minute even a small fraction of what those border towns deal with every day is brought to their front door, they all of a sudden go berserk, and they’re so upset that this is happening, and it just shows you, you know, their virtue signaling is a fraud.”