After a prank that drove migrants from Texas to affluent Martha’s Vineyard, Governor Ron DeSantis increased his advantage against former President Trump in Florida to eight points.
According to a USA Today/Suffolk University survey, DeSantis would have a 48-40 percent advantage against the outgoing president in a hypothetical 2024 contest. That is a flip from January, when Trump had a 47-40 percent advantage in the same survey.
For any Republican to win the president, Florida’s treasured 30 electoral votes are essential.
According to Suffolk University Political Research Center director David Paleologos, “this doesn’t necessarily indicate DeSantis would dominate in any other GOP primary state.”
‘But there is one data point reflecting a change in GOP voters’ preferences away from Trump and toward DeSantis among Republicans who are extremely familiar with both prospective adversaries,’ the article said.
In a second Politico/Morning Consult survey, 52% of participants said they would support Trump in the GOP primary for 2024 if it were conducted today, while 19% said they would support DeSantis.
DeSantis maintains he is focused on Florida, but he has made a number of national political manoeuvres that suggest he is also considering running for president. Trump has left a trail of not-so-subtle signals that he intends to run for the high office again.
When the governor last week dispatched a group of 50 Venezuelan refugees from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, the billionaire’s retreat in Massachusetts, he ignited a political uproar.
In a lawsuit filed against the governor for the incident, a group of migrants and an immigration organisation claimed that the governor had “designed and executed a premeditated, fraudulent, and illegal scheme centred on exploiting [the migrants] for the sole purpose of advancing their own personal, financial, and political interests.”
They stated they were misled into believing they would get assistance and be transported to either Boston or Washington, D.C.
The lawsuit, according to a statement from DeSantis’ communications director, is essentially “political theatre” done by “opportunistic activists” on the backs of undocumented immigrants.
According to spokeswoman Taryn Fenske, each immigrant was forced to sign a permission document before boarding the aircraft, and she added that the trip to Martha’s Vineyard was taken “on a voluntary basis.”
The papers, which are available in English and Spanish, were reportedly taken from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who began taking migrants by bus to New York City and Washington, DC, in the beginning.
“I promise to keep the donor or its intended agents immune of any liabilities arising out of or in any way related to any injuries and damages that may occur during the agreed transport to areas outside of Texas until the ultimate destination in Massachusetts,” the document reads.
The activists didn’t care about the immigrants, who were homeless, hungry, and abandoned, according to Fenske.
These people chose to utilise chartered aircraft to Massachusetts because Florida’s policy allowed them a new start in a sanctuary state, she said.
The fact that Martha’s Vineyard requested the Massachusetts National Guard to transport them off the island within 48 hours was upsetting.
Republican governors of Texas and Arizona have sent immigrants to New York and Washington, D.C.; Texas Governor Greg Abbott even sent immigrants who were left on the street outside of Harris’ official mansion in Washington.
DeSantis still has to defeat Democrat Charlie Crist in his own bid to be re-elected governor in November. He’s still the clear favourite to win the race.