California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Monday got personal with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), a potential 2024 presidential contender, after California's attorney general said the latter state was possibly behind a private plane flight that brought South American migrants to Sacramento last week. Newsom even floated the concept of kidnapping charges over the mysterious incident.
Newsom fired off a tweet to DeSantis that read, “This isn’t Martha’s Vineyard. Kidnapping charges?” The governor linked to a section of the California penal code that would make it a crime to bring people into the state “by force or fraud” after they’ve been abducted.
The suggestions came after California's Attorney General Rob Bonta said Monday that the flight still needs to be investigated, but its passengers were each in possession of documents that appeared to be from the state of Florida.
Bonta stated, “We do know that the individuals were in possession of documentation purporting to be from the government of the State of Florida.”
It’s no secret that DeSantis and some other Republican governors have recently been sending migrants to Democratic-led cities, citing border policies and security. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) even tweeted last month that Texas had bused over 17,000 migrants to “sanctuary cities” alone. Those events are based on a flight DeSantis sent to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., last fall.
Whether this flight to Sacramento is connected to DeSantis and Florida or not remains to be seen. DeSantis has made no claims regarding the matter, nor is there any evidence to suggest what the migrants were expecting upon their arrival.
“It’s a pathetic game his political party is playing at the expense of people’s lives,” Newsom wrote on Twitter. He referred to DeSantis as a “small, pathetic man.”
DeSantis and his team have yet to respond to Newsom's comments, but that hasn't stopped the California governor from continuing his verbal attacks. “They come to our state and don’t accept responsibility. That’s negligence,” Newsom wrote in another tweet. “It’s callousness. We will get to the bottom of this.”
Newsom’s latest spat with DeSantis has implications that affect both states and administrations. Until the situation is investigated, only time will tell if Newsom has a valid argument against the Florida governor.
CA Gov. Gavin Newsom accusing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis of kidnapping for allegedly sending 16 migrants to Sacramento. The migrants arrived on a private plane and were dropped off outside a Roman Catholic Church on Friday https://t.co/GRlw05RoK0
— Jorge Ventura Media (@VenturaReport) June 5, 2023