Few political pundits on either side of the aisle believed that widely popular Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was in any real danger of losing his re-election bid to Democratic challenger Charlie Crist.
One exception, however, was Fox News Channel personality Geraldo Rivera.
In response to DeSantis’ tough immigration policies, Rivera tweeted last month that the governor “will soon feel the wrath of Florida’s Latino voters outraged by his toying with the lives of those Venezuelan refugees he exploited.”
The tweet was an apparent reference to the DeSantis administration’s efforts to relocate undocumented immigrants from Florida to sanctuary jurisdictions elsewhere in the United States.
Earlier this year, a group of largely Venezuelan migrants were flown to the liberal enclave of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and a handful of them joined a lawsuit against the Florida governor and other state leaders.
DeSantis quickly pushed back against claims that the migrants were misled, producing consent forms that each of the relocated individuals signed before boarding the plane.
The form, which was presented in both English and Spanish, confirmed that the migrants would “hold the benefactor or its designed representatives harmless of all liability arising out of or in any way relating to any injuries and damages that may occur during the agreed transport to locations outside of Texas until the final destination in Massachusetts.”
For many Floridians, his plan was a worthwhile effort to shed light on the border crisis that has grown progressively worse throughout the Biden administration.
On Election Day, the incumbent governor scored one of the most decisive wins of the midterms with a staggering 19-point lead over Crist by the time 92% of the ballots had been counted.
In light of DeSantis’ lopsided victory, Rivera was forced to admit the glaring error in his earlier prediction.
This Tweet did not age well. https://t.co/LaMWKmwCAd
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) November 9, 2022
DeSantis has gained national prominence in recent years for taking on a number of hot-button issues aside from immigration. In a victory speech on Tuesday night, he measured his success by the stream of Americans who have moved to Florida during his administration.
“The woke agenda has caused millions of Americans to leave these jurisdictions for greener pastures,” he said. “Now this great exodus of Americans, for these folks, Florida, for so many of them, has served as the promised land.”
