White House rips Republicans for using migrants as 'political pawns'
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Conservative Twitter users swarmed the latest tweet from "1619 Project" creator, critical race theorist, and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones, which claimed that Gov. Ron DeSantis’, R-Fla., move to relocate illegal immigrants was an attempt to "stoke the ugliest instincts of humanity."
Hannah-Jones, whose most prominent contribution to journalism is her set of New York Times Magazine essays claiming that America was founded by the British colonists in order to safeguard and promote slavery, asserted that DeSantis’ actions further deny any sense of "American exceptionalism."
After the Florida governor ordered the relocation of around 50 illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts by plane on Wednesday, Hannah-Jones accused him of abusing these migrants.
Illustrating her perception of their plight, she tweeted, "Imagine being in a foreign country, not speaking the language, desperate and with your child, and being dropped off in the middle of the street in a strange city with nothing because a politician wants to stoke the ugliest instincts of humanity. American exceptionalism indeed."
1619 Project founder Nikole Hannah-Jones slammed Gov. DeSantis for relocating migrants to Martha's Vineyard. ((Photo by: Jeff Scheart/MSNBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images))
Other media figures have reacted in fury to the governor’s move.
Though conservative users on Twitter slammed the tweet, arguing that migrants flooding into the country actually proves American exceptionalism. They also bashed the author for ignoring the massive numbers of migrants who flood into border towns every month.
"Apparently, sending people to liberal cities is ‘stoking the ugliest instincts of humanity.’ Wow," tweeted Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, claimed the multitudes of illegal immigrants coming across the border have it much worse than those flown to one of the country's nicest locales. "Imagine dying on a ranch in 106 degree Tx heat. Imagine dying in a tractor trailer with 52 other migrants. Imagine being raped in a stash house… being sold into trafficking… being told to transport fentanyl (killing Americans) to enter… #FalseCompassion #SecureBordersNow," he tweeted.
Conservative radio host Joe Pagliarulo rebutted Hannah-Jones claim, saying, "Imagine this person realized they're coming here on their own, illegally and are owed nothing. Had they waited in line and come legally, they'd be in a much better situation. And, if we're not exceptional -- why are so many breaking the law to get here? Hmmm."
Martha's Vineyard, MA - September 15: Martha's Vineyard residents line up in front of St. Andrews Parish House to donate food to the recently arrived migrants. Two planes of migrants from Venezuela arrived suddenly Wednesday night on Martha's Vineyard. (Photo by Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
"One imagines these people -- many of them running from socialist governments -- would risk their lives for the opportunity. Which says everything about American exceptionalism," tweeted The Federalist senior editor David Harsanyi.
Daily Caller reporter Laurel Duggan praised Hannah-Jones for admitting that the illegal immigration system in America is in shambles. "This is obviously true and it was true for more than 2 million migrants in 2021 alone. It's refreshing to see the left acknowledging the inhumane cruelty of the border crisis," she wrote.
Conservative writer Kimberly Morin composed the same tweet as Hannah-Jones, with the only difference being that it was about a migrant flown from a southern border town to other places in America under the Biden administration’s real-life orders.
"Imagine being in a foreign country, not speaking the language, a 'desperate' single, young man, being FLOWN across the country, in the middle of the night by Biden. Democrats ARE the ugliest humanity has to offer," she tweeted.
Sports broadcaster and conservative commentator Tony Bruno tweeted, "Imagine fleecing people for millions of dollars and not given a penny of it to victims, but bought mansions instead? #MarthasVineyard is a white supremacist mecca and those people shipped them away in busses in less than 48 hours. Luckily, they weren't sent to Philly or Baltimore."
And Babylon Bee managing editor Joel Berry slammed Hannah-Jones, tweeting, "You're right about American exceptionalism. I can't imagine another country on earth where you could enter illegally and then get sent to the most beautiful and wealthy zip code in that country on a free charter plane."
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke about sending migrants to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022. (WEAR via NNS)
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