California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) called out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday, days after more than a dozen migrants were flown to the steps of a church in Sacramento.
“@RonDeSantis you small, pathetic man. This isn’t Martha’s Vineyard,” Newsom said in a tweet on Monday. “Kidnapping charges? Read the following,” he continued, attaching both a link and screenshot of California legislature’s kidnapping ordinance.
The California governor was referencing a flight on Saturday that dropped off 16 Venezuelan and Colombian migrants in Sacramento, prompting a California Department of Justice investigation into the incident.
DeSantis has not owned up to the event, and the origin of the flight wasn’t immediately clear. But as Newsom pointed out, it is similar to a political stunt that DeSantis pulled last year transporting 49 migrants out of Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
“We are working closely with the Mayor’s office, along with local and nonprofit partners to ensure the people who have arrived are treated with respect and dignity, and get to their intended destination as they pursue their immigration cases,” Newsom said in a statement on Saturday.
DeSantis’ office said last year that he aimed to continue organizing such trips despite a migrant lawsuit.
Newsom and DeSantis, who recently announced his presidential bid on Twitter, have had an ongoing rivalry for over a year. Neither Newsom’s nor DeSantis’ office responded to HuffPost’s request for comment.