John Oliver blames Ron DeSantis's migrant stunt on Fox News and Tucker Carlson

On Last Week Tonight With John Oliver Sunday, Oliver opened the show by calling out Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who recently made news for flying migrants to Martha’s Vineyard without notifying authorities that they’d be arriving. Oliver believes DeSantis may have been inspired by Fox News opinion host Tucker Carlson.

“If this seems like a stunt made for Fox News, you are absolutely right,” Oliver said. “But it also may have been made by Fox News, because just two months ago Tucker Carlson did a segment pointing out the whiteness of Martha’s Vineyard, and he had this fun proposal.”

Carlson had suggested sending hundreds of thousands of migrants to the small island.

Oliver also addressed the accusations leveled against DeSantis and his people by the migrants, claiming they were lied to about what was awaiting them when they boarded the plane. The migrants, who are here legally having requested asylum, have filed a class action lawsuit against the governor.

“This stunt was both grim and deeply cynical,” Oliver said, “especially given that the migrants were reportedly lured there with empty promises of jobs and housing, and even handed brochures listing government assistance that they were not eligible for.”

Oliver also pointed out that none of the migrants who were flown to Martha’s Vineyard, with taxpayer dollars, were in the state of Florida. All of them were in the state of Texas when they boarded the planes.

“It seems this huge problem for his state, mass migration, is actually so little of a problem he had to borrow 50 migrants from a state halfway across the country,” Oliver said. “But still, you know what? Credit where it’s due. Nothing says I’m against illegal immigration and human trafficking quite like making fake documents to smuggle people across a border.”

Video Transcript

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JOHN OLIVER: If this seems like a stunt made for "Fox News," you are absolutely right. But it also may have been made by "Fox News." Because just two months ago, Tucker Carlson did a segment pointing out the whiteness of Martha's Vineyard. And he had this fun proposal.

- On "Last Week Tonight" with John Oliver Sunday, Oliver called out Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who recently flew migrants to the affluent Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts without giving authorities their prior notice. Oliver believes the stunt may have been inspired by "Fox News" opinion host Tucker Carlson, who recently suggested sending hundreds of thousands of migrants to the small island.

JOHN OLIVER: First, Martha's Vineyard is an island that has a year round population under 20,000, so suggesting sending 300,000 people there is a little like suggesting you let Tucker Carlson bring you to sexual completion. It is just a disgusting idea. It's a logistically impossible one.

- The migrants flown to Martha's Vineyard have filed a class action lawsuit against DeSantis, claiming they were lied to about what was awaiting them when they boarded the plane.

JOHN OLIVER: This stunt was both grim and deeply cynical, especially given that the migrants were reportedly lured there with empty promises of jobs and housing and even handed brochures listing government assistance that they were not eligible for.

- And DeSantis is currently being investigated by a sheriff in Texas because none of the migrants the governor had flown to Martha's Vineyard were even in the state of Florida. All were flown there from Texas.

JOHN OLIVER: It seems this huge problem for his state, mass migration, is actually so little of a problem, he had to borrow 50 migrants from a state halfway across the country. But still, you know what? Credit where it's due. Nothing says I'm against illegal immigration and human trafficking quite like making fake documents to smuggle people across a border.

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