Mainstream media coverup? NBC deletes tweet with quote comparing migrants to trash

Users on Twitter criticized NBC on Friday after the television network deleted a Tweet with a quote comparing the relocation of Venezuelan immigrants to Martha's Vineyard to picking up "trash." 

The now-deleted tweet of the NBC article with reactions within the Venezuelan community, quoted Max Lefekd, a Venezuelan advertising executive and naturalized citizen comparing fellow migrants who arrived on the exclusive island of Martha's Vineyard to 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 NBC to dehumanize DeSantis' decisions.

Lefeld also said that what Florida Governor Ron DeSantis did by sending two planes with Venezuelan illegal immigrants to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, where millionaires like former President Barack Obama have mansions, was a "political stunt."

One of the first Twitter accounts to foreshadow that the network would delete the Tweet at some point was LibsofTikTok, who posted on Truth Social a screenshot of the Tweet saying, "Screenshot for when it is deleted."

According to NBC News, Lefeld is one of the founders of Casa Venezuela Dallas, a foundation that helps Venezuelan immigrants arriving in the United States.

The situation divides Venezuelans in the United States politically. There are those who are critical of the relocations of immigrants by the governors of Republican states, which are recipients of massive immigration that have caused the collapse of government services to serve immigrants, and those who blame the policies of the Biden administration, which they blame for the border chaos.

According to NBC News "The divisions are largely along political lines, with Venezuelan Republicans defending DeSantis and Democrats criticizing the measure."

According to Lefeld, many say they will not help Venezuelans from Chavismo and that the newcomers are Maduro sympathizers.

"DeSantis was trying to call attention to a problem that the Biden administration does not want to take on," said Patricia Andrade who helps newly arrived Venezuelans, with her organization Raíces Venezolanas, in Miami. She claims that many arrive because they have been assured that the U.S. government would give them food and housing.

"But what I'm seeing is that many of the Venezuelans who come end up on the streets. If the U.S. government is going to allow them in, they should screen them for criminal records and have the infrastructure in place to provide shelter and food," she said.

However, the media outlet apparently realized that giving prominence to that quote, at least on its Twitter feed, was not a good idea and decided to delete it on Friday. not without prominent conservative figures saving screenshots. 

"Wonder why @NBCNews deleted this tweet," tweeted host Sara Gonzales sarcastically.

For his part, Mark Levin summed up the controversy in two words: "NBC, racist".