‘Imagine They Were White!’ Elie Mystal Accuses DeSantis of ‘Kidnapping’ Migrants Like a Pervert with a Van

Columnist for The Nation Elie Mystal said on MSNBC Saturday that Gov. Ron DeSantis and staff who helped organize sending migrants to Martha’s Vineyard this week should be charged with kidnapping but not human trafficking, according to how he “reads the law,” comparing their actions to tricking “White teenagers” into a van with promises of candy and Disney.

Appearing on The Cross Connection, Mystal told host Tiffany Cross that, despite accusations from various Democrats and media (including Hillary Clinton) that the Florida governor’s actions in flying 50 migrants to wealthy liberal enclaves constitutes human trafficking, he does not agree.

“Just because the way our laws are written are kind of specific in terms of trafficking for the purposes of sex or labor. Trafficking or the purposes of having a laugh at liberals s not a human trafficking violation, as I read the law,” Mystal argued.

Instead, the pundit and attorney told Cross, it was kidnapping.

“Kidnapping is a thing. Kidnapping by trick is a thing,” said Mystal. “Telling people that you are

going to take them one place and sending them someplace else is a form of kidnapping.”

Mystal appears to be referring to allegations in the media that individuals who were aboard the flight were in some way misled by the DeSantis team. Mystal gave a vivid example featuring a Matthew McConaughey line from the movie A Time To Kill.

What I believe is happening here is kidnapping. It’s not quite true to Hoyle, human trafficking, just because the way our laws are written are kind of specific in terms of trafficking for the purposes of sex or labor. Trafficking, for the purposes of having a laugh at liberals, is not a human trafficking violation as I read the law. However, kidnapping is a thing. Kidnapping by trick is a thing. Telling people that you are going to take them one place and sending them someplace else is a form of kidnapping. And I can prove that to you if I do the Matthew McConaughey thing, ‘Now imagine they were White.’ Imagine Ron DeSantis goes up to a group of White teenagers, offers them some candy, and says, ‘Hey, I’m going to take you to Disney World if you get in my van.’ And then Ron DeSantis drives them to Busch Gardens. That’s kidnapping. You’re not allowed to do that.

“So the people who did that, the organizers who did that, and perhaps even the governor, they

should be charged with kidnapping,” Mystal concluded.

Watch the clip above, via MSNBC.