Florida-based Hispanic conservatives tell Fox News Digital their community largely approves of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ move to relocate migrants to Martha’s Vineyard despite the media narrative to the contrary.
Media Research Center Latino director Jorge Bonilla, who resides in Florida, believes coverage of the incident has been wildly dishonest. He took particular exception to a Politico piece headlined, "‘Huge mistake’: DeSantis’ migrant transports could undercut support in South Florida," that claimed the decision "could hurt the Republican governor in November" when he faces Democratic challenger Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla.
"There are some who are speculating, openly speculating in media, that this is somehow going to be an issue going forward in the Florida gubernatorial election. I am here to disabuse everybody of that notion and to disavow that. I'm here to tell you right now… Martha's Vineyard is not going to be dispositive in the 2022 Florida gubernatorial election," Bonilla told Fox News Digital.
Politico reported a Crist ad attacking DeSantis over the move and quoted a pair of Democrats, including Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., before eventually noting that a conservative who spoke with the publication said relocating migrants would be a "successful" move for DeSantis. But the headline, which featured the "huge mistake" quote from a Democratic candidate for state Senate, was enough to irk Bonilla.
"It is not dispositive for the 2022 Florida gubernatorial election, no matter how hard the media try to make it into a thing. It's not going to be a thing, and I know that there's items out there. I know that there's coverage of this out there, but a lot of that is unfairly framed. It's dishonestly framed. It's politically framed," Bonilla said. "This is a pure political exercise."
Bonilla’s MRC peers have also put a spotlight on MSNBC’s Joy Reid, who "attempted to pass off Roberto Rodriguez Tejera, a well known left-wing Democrat Party activist in South Florida, as an objective Spanish radio host," analyst Kevin Tober wrote, noting that Reid called criticism of DeSantis from Tejera "the chatter inside of Florida."
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Politico’s report also said, "One Spanish radio host loudly denounced the move and even compared DeSantis’ actions to that of deceased Cuban dictator Fidel Castro," but Bonilla has a feeling both outlets had the same strategy. He believes many Americans believe "the code for Cuban is conservative," because of anti-communism politics of many Cuban exiles. As a result, he feels it’s "disinformation" when outlets report that a Spanish-language, or Cuban, radio host objects to DeSantis’ move without noting the political affiliation of the particular host.
Bonilla said Florida-based Hispanics are more concerned with things such as gas prices, inflation, what is being taught in schools and other issues that directly affect their lives, as opposed to DeSantis sending migrants to liberal-run sanctuary cities.
"The media are trying to make this into a thing," Bonilla said. "This is not going to turn out the way Democrats want it to."
Bonilla admits that some Hispanic conservatives feel DeSantis went too far with the Martha’s Vineyard tactic, but he believes anyone who identifies as a conservative will passionately support the Republican governor regardless.
"Because the fact is that this is the fault of the federal government. This is the fault of the Biden administration for flinging the border wide open. Had the border not been flung wide open, had Biden not encouraged migrants to come in the 2020 general election, this wouldn't be happening," Bonilla said.
While MSNBC and Politico didn’t mention the political affiliation of the Spanish-language radio hosts they covered, two openly conservative Florida-based Spanish-language conservative hosts have praised DeSantis.
Lourdes Ubieta, who recently quit Miami’s iconic anti-communism Radio Mambi ahead of a planned takeover by a George Soros-linked liberal group, said DeSantis is beloved among much of her audience. Ubieta joined upstart Miami-based Americano Media on a full-time basis after refusing to work for the far-left billionaire, and hasn’t seen anything to make her feel support for DeSantis is dwindling.
"Americano Media’s polling research and on-air discussions prove Governor DeSantis is quite popular among Hispanics, and he recently came in second in an Americano straw poll of audience favorites for 2024. If President Trump doesn’t run, DeSantis is far and away the favorite of our national audience," Ubieta told Fox News Digital.
"He has focused successfully on Hispanic Floridians for quite some time now, and it shows in his growing support," Ubieta said. "As for border policy, it doesn’t lead Hispanic concerns -- we’re focused on inflation and the economy like all Americans -- and most of us support DeSantis’ strong stand for legal immigration.
Ninoska Perez Castellón, another prominent South Florida Spanish-language conservative radio host, feels her personal views coincide with her listeners are saying.
"No one knows better the plight of an immigrant than those of us who have lived it. As victims fleeing communism Cubans have been sent to Guantanamo, several other bases and anywhere that would take them. Immigrants come to the dream of America not to any particular city. It’s shameful that Democrats are using immigrants to attack Governor DeSantis," Perez Castellón told Fox News Digital.
Giancarlo Sopo, a descendent of Cuban exiles who ran the Hispanic advertising and rapid response effort for former President Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, dismissed any notion that DeSantis sending migrants to sanctuary cities will hurt his popularity among the community.
"Not only is there no evidence that relocating migrants to Martha’s Vineyard has hurt Governor DeSantis politically, the latest poll shows him with a significant lead over his Democratic rival and surpassing his 2018 performance with Hispanics," Sopo told Fox News Digital.
