The White House heartily criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) Wednesday for his ongoing “political stunts” involving migrants but would not say if his actions break the law, as some Democratic lawmakers have alleged.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) threatened to charge DeSantis with kidnapping and false imprisonment after the governor’s office transported 16 migrants from the Texas border to Sacramento, California. DeSantis has sent similar shipments of migrants to Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, and Washington, D.C.
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Reporters pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre during Wednesday’s briefing on Newsom’s comments, asking her if DeSantis’ “stunts” had broken any laws.
“You’ve heard me say this multiple times from here about these political stunts and what they mean. They’re dangerous, and they’re unacceptable. I said this yesterday, and I’ll say this again,” Jean-Pierre responded to one question before outlining President Joe Biden’s attempts to reform U.S. immigration policy. “I just don’t understand. What are these governors doing? Why are they causing chaos? Why are they causing confusion? What does that actually do for their constituency, or for the people who are being put on these planes or on the buses? It just doesn’t make sense.”
Jean-Pierre additionally attempted to avoid questions on the topic by citing the Hatch Act, which prevents government officials from using their position to address political campaigns, and eventually declined to answer if DeSantis was breaking the law or not.
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“I’m going to be careful here. I cannot speak to the law,” she stated. “What they’re doing is completely, completely dangerous, and so I cannot speak to the legal action. I cannot speak to if it’s illegal or not.”
You can watch Wednesday’s briefing in full below.
