Ron DeSantis gets a standing ovation at speech after mentioning flying migrants to Martha’s Vineyard

Ron DeSantis received a standing ovation during a speech in Kansas City after he mentioned the stunt that involved sending two planeloads of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard.

Florida’s governor was cheered on Sunday for sending 50 people to the island off the coast of Massachusetts last week.

He also labeled the influx of migrants to the US as a “crisis” but said it “got a little more attention now.”

DeSantis flew 50 migrants to the luxury island on Wednesday before they were deported by officials to a military base on Cape Cod.

Outraged local residents reacted with shock at the move, saying they were relieved they didn’t stay as there were not the facilities to care for them.

It comes as the Florida governor has put in a record amount of fundraising for his governor campaign.

He took in a whopping $177.4 million on Sept. 9, according to a report by Open Secrets.

DeSantis is up for re-election this fall, after a term in which he barely won the governorship in 2018 and became one of the GOP’s most prominent stars.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis received a standing ovation during a speech in Kansas City after he mentioned his stunt of sending two planeloads of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard

One of 50 migrants (left) Ron DeSantis had flown to Martha’s Vineyard as part of a political stunt

“This is a crisis. It’s getting a little bit more attention now,” DeSantis said during Sunday’s speech, sharing how he felt the movement had managed to get the kind of attention he hoped.

“This border is now a problem in these elections,” he said. “And I think it’s something our candidates should take.”

As the crowd rose to applaud the Republican governor, it became clear that the move did much more than force border security, but it also secured DeSantis’ position as a potential candidate to vie with Donald Trump for the presidential ticket. of the GOP in 2024 .

DeSantis received the ovation as he spoke at a meeting for Wisconsin Governor Tim Michels in Olathe, Kansas.

DeSantis defended his actions, claiming the migrants knew exactly where they were going and volunteered for the trip.

Pictured: A group of 50 migrants enjoyed Venezuelan food at the military base after Martha’s Vineyard declared a state of emergency over the group’s arrival

About 150 members of the National Guard were called in to transport the migrants from the island to the Cape Cod military base, 52 miles away.

The crowd rose as DeSantis spoke of how sending just 50 migrants to the affluent island enclave of Martha’s Vineyard demonstrated the hypocrisy of liberals and sanctuary city rhetoric.

“You’re talking about 50 people. Did they hire them? Did they set it up? No,’ he said. “They called in the National Guard and deported those people from the island the next day.”

He told how the migrants were “basically given a lottery to come to the richest jurisdiction in the country,” while talking about how the summer island had plenty of vacancies and hotels to accommodate the migrants.

“Now we see that this is just a self-aggrandizing virtue sign,” DeSantis said.

Despite the popularity of the Martha’s Vineyard movement in Kansas, liberals criticized DeSantis for pulling what they characterized as a cruel stunt that involved using human lives as pawns in a political game.

Among the critics was President Biden, who said DeSantis was “playing politics with people.”

Many called the situation a humanitarian emergency, while Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker said Martha’s Vineyard – with a population of 15,000 – “is not equipped to provide sustainable housing” to the migrants.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also took aim at DeSantis during a news conference, urging other Republicans who disagree with his “blueprint” to “come to the public”.

Migrants who had moved from Martha’s Vineyard to Joint Base Cape Cod were given a hot meal. Pictured: A mother carrying her children to be taken to base by bus

The migrants settle shortly after days of confusion that began when they were taken to a Florida airport to be shipped to Massachusetts

She said: “This is an issue and we have been clear about this, this is an inhumane issue, it is abhorrent and we should not use people, migrants, who are fleeing communism, as political pawns.”

The Florida governor sent the group of 50 migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, where officials immediately complained about the situation and called on the National Guard to move the group because the city reportedly lacked shelters.

The migrants were removed from the island within 48 hours and moved by ferry to a military base on Cape Cod.

A DeSantis spokesperson said in a statement that the trip was part of the “state’s relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.”

DeSantis followed the lead of his colleagues in Texas and Arizona, who transport dozens of migrants illegally crossing the US to New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott sent two busloads of migrants to Harris’s door on Thursday after the vice president claimed the border was “secure.”

“VP Harris claims our border is ‘secure’ and denies the crisis,” Abbott tweeted, claiming responsibility for the move. “We are sending migrants to her backyard to call on the Biden administration to do its job and secure the border.”