Martha's Vineyard: Ritzy island that briefly took in migrants popular with liberal elites, including in media

When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, R., sent nearly 50 migrants to the ritzy Massachusetts enclave of Martha's Vineyard last week, he knew it would get a lot of attention due to its connections to the liberal elite.

Bill and Hillary Clinton vacationed there in the 1990s while holding the White House, and the Obamas now own a $12 million estate on the island. Others with homes there include singer James Taylor, who just performed at President Biden's White House celebration for the Inflation Reduction Act, director Spike Lee and comedian David Letterman, all strong Democratic Party supporters.

When migrants arrived at the vaunted island at the direction of DeSantis – a possible 2024 Republican candidate who's become a sharp mutual antagonist of liberal media outlets – the media outcry was predictable.

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough noted Hillary Clinton's affection for Martha's Vineyard when introducing her on the program Friday, saying, "Let’s talk about the news of the day first. And a place that you know and love very, very much, Martha's Vineyard." Like other media figures, he praised the town's denizens for their conduct toward the migrants, and he condemned what he called "human trafficking" by DeSantis.

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"What happens? The doors of the churches fly open. The doors of the community halls fly open, and the people of Martha’s Vineyard are so grateful to be able to lend a helping hand," Scarborough said.

CNN reported in 2016, shortly before Clinton's presidential election defeat, that Martha's Vineyard residents hoped she would spend part of her summer vacations there if she won the White House, given how she and her husband frequented the place when he was president. Jackie Kennedy Onassis owned an estate there, and the infamous Chappaquiddick incident with Ted Kennedy, when his female passenger drowned after he drove his car into a pond, occurred on an island accessible from Martha's Vineyard. 

It also has its share of liberal media connections.

While criticizing DeSantis on "CBS Mornings" last week, CBS host Gayle King – a friend of the Obamas, perhaps Martha's Vineyard's most well-known part-time residents – noted she'd been there "many times."

"I've been to Martha's Vineyard many times," King said. "It's a great, great place. But at least give people some notice so they can prepare."

"The View" co-host Sunny Hostin called Martha's Vineyard her "happy place" last week and noted its special connection for her family.

"Martha’s Vineyard is my happy place, it’s my home away from home, I spend the summer there, I wrote a book, ‘Summer on the Bluffs.’ It’s a beautiful place, and I’m happy they are there because it’s a place that historically has allowed people from other places," she said. "Black people, it was the only place in our country, one of three, that allowed Black people in the late 1800’s to own property and beachfront property. So, welcome to Martha’s Vineyard."

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Former ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer also owns an estate on Martha's Vineyard, and Washington Post publisher Katherine Graham, who died in 2001, had one as well. Journalist Mike Wallace also purchased property on Martha's Vineyard.

The episode has once again exposed the massive schism in the country when it comes to immigration law. 

DeSantis' move has generated considerable controversy, with some liberal media members and Democrats fuming he should be prosecuted for human trafficking and kidnapping. Conservatives have shot back that the reaction to the migrants underscores Democrats not taking the border crisis seriously until migrants showed up at their own doors, rather than south Texas towns.

"Florida is not a sanctuary state. We will continue to facilitate a program to assist the transportation of illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities and states across the country," DeSantis spokesperson Taryn Fenske told "interested media" last week.

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The duty of caring for the mostly Venezuelan nationals now falls on the Massachusetts National Guard on the mainland. The migrants were shipped by bus and ferry to Cape Cod on Friday morning. About 55.5% of the homes on Martha’s Vineyard are vacation homes — the highest rate in the entire nation, according to a 2019 report by the National Association of Realtors. 

Liberal media outlets have fawned over Martha's Vineyard residents for how they treated the migrants upon their arrival, although they spent less than two days at the idyllic island.

"What happened, instead, was that residents of Martha’s Vineyard rallied to provide food, shelter, clothing and services. The asylum seekers are now on their way to Cape Cod, to receive further assistance. The stunt failed to make its intended point," New York Times columnist Jamele Bouie wrote.

"DeSantis Tries to Prove Liberals Hate Immigrants As Much As He Does, Fails," said the headline for Jonathan Chait's New York magazine article, likening the move by DeSantis to the actions of the White Citizens Councils in the 1960s. 

"Martha’s Vineyard had not been expecting them but a small army of activists mobilized to help people who had become pawns in the contentious debate over America’s broken immigration system," CNN's Ray Sanchez wrote.

Far-left MSNBC host Joy Reid also boasted about Martha’s Vineyard’s response to the migrants, arguing that the little island was the place to find "Christian love," and left-wing CBS "Late Night" host Stephen Colbert quipped that DeSantis had only proven how compassionate the islanders were.

"Yeah, Desantis owned those libs by making them look compassionate," Colbert sarcastically quipped. "Just like that cuck Jesus. Send that guy a truckload of lepers, see how he likes it."

DeSantis' "stunt" may have won him no fans in the press, but that seems to have been his point, judging by his remarks.

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"There were more Acela corporate journalists in Martha's Vineyard today than have ever gone down to the Southern border to look at what's going on," he said last week.

Fox News' Kerry J. Byrne and Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.