The Martha’s Vineyard Stunt Proved the Exact Opposite of What Ron DeSantis Wanted It To

The goodness of people shined through.

On Wednesday afternoon, two chartered planes landed 48 migrants from Venezuela and Colombia at Martha Vineyard’s Airport. These migrants did not know where they were going, who had corralled them, or that they were being used as pawns — as cattle, really — by a shameless politician trying to score cheap culture war points. They were just human beings, with families, trying to find some shelter, solace and peace.

They didn’t know where they were going, and the residents of Martha’s Vineyard — very much by design — did not know they were coming. (There are reports they were lured there by someone who claimed they were going to Boston for “expedited work papers.”) Martha’s Vineyard is considered, by the sort of people who are always trying to score cheap culture war points, as some sort of enclave of liberal decadence, but that’s not what it is. It’s just a place where people live, like every place is a place where people live. The stunt — which was orchestrated by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and given as an exclusive to Fox News — ignored that fact, like it ignored the fact that those they put on the plane were just people too. “No one should be capitalizing on the difficult circumstances that these families…