Some prominent Donald Trump supporters are taking aim at Gov. Ron DeSantis’ controversial migrant flights program.
Mike Flynn, a former National Security Advisor to Trump, slammed both DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for shipping migrants to Democratic jurisdictions. He specifically alluded to DeSantis contracting a flight to the Texas border to fly immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard last year.
His comments were captured in video by Patriot AU, a pro-Trump outfit, and later shared by anti-Trump influencer Ron Filipkowski.
“Remember when Abbott, and then DeSantis followed suit, they flew them to Martha’s Vineyard and they flew them to Washington, D.C.,” Flynn said. “I sat there and I watched it, and I said, ‘This is a joke, this is a joke.’ This is a publicity stunt. Frankly, further to me, it further hurt our country. Where are those people at?”
Congressional candidate Anthony Sabatini, a Howey-in-the-Hills Republican challenging U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster in a GOP Primary, also hit on the migrant flights, but without offering names.
“Republican governors busing and flying thousands of illegal aliens deeper into the United States will go down as one of the most destructive political decisions in American history,” he tweeted.
Flynn and Sabatini have notably worked together to grow influence of the America First movement within the Florida Republican Party. They both are also vocal supporters of Trump in the 2024 Presidential Primary, which DeSantis is expected to enter in coming weeks.
This isn’t the first time the policy has drawn criticism from the Right. Immediately after the migrant flights, Kari Lake, another Trump ally who was running for Arizona Governor at the time, also questioned the move.
“I mean, we’re just taking people here illegally who shouldn’t be here, moving them further inland,” she told Fox News in September.
Still, any concerns raised were not shared by GOP supermajorities in the Legislature. Members earlier this year passed a statute clarifying DeSantis’ ability to move migrants who never step foot in Florida and funded such efforts further.
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