NBC News gutted after deleting tweet with quote comparing Martha's Vineyard migrants to ‘trash’

Twitter users slammed NBC News on Friday for deleting a tweet about the illegal immigrant relocation from Florida to Martha’s Vineyard which compared the migrants to "trash."

The now-deleted tweet and corresponding NBC News story quoted Max Lefeld, founder of Casa Venezuela Dallas foundation – a charity group dedicated to helping refugees – who described the relocation as taking out the "trash."

"It’s like me taking my trash out and just driving to different areas where I live and just throwing my trash there," Lefeld told the outlet in order to paint the move, ordered by Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., as a dehumanizing political stunt.

NBC News’ tweet about the story featured Lefeld’s comment front and center, stating, "Florida Gov. DeSantis sending asylum-seekers to Martha’s Vineyard is like ‘me taking my trash out and just driving to different areas where I live and just throwing my trash there,’ a founding member of a foundation which helps refugees says. - @NBCLatino."

However, the outlet apparently realized that referring to migrants as "trash" was not a good look, at least for its Twitter account. NBC News deleted the tweet shortly after posting it on Friday. The news story however, featuring the quoting in its second paragraph, is still up on the website.

Prominent conservative Twitter accounts saved images of the tweet and flooded the platform with them. They condemned the outlet for the comparison.

Conservative journalist Jason Howerton was shocked that the outlet had composed the now-deleted tweet, writing, "Holy s---. Wow. Sometimes you really just want to shut up and let them talk."... (Read more)

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