Which is extra appalling: Immigration authorities placing a Milford teen in a detention middle, or Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey utilizing him as a political prop in a PR battle?
Healey, who’s up for reelection subsequent yr and whose approval rankings have dipped, staged a photograph op in her Statehouse workplace with Marcelo Gomes da Silva on Friday that reeked of political opportunism and ickiness.
Placing her arm across the 18-year-old who has been dwelling right here illegally, she handed the impressionable teen a rosary she stated was blessed by the Pope – all of it captured by her taxpayer funded photographer.
It was one of the shameless maneuvers by a Massachusetts politician in current reminiscence, and that’s saying quite a bit.
If she actually wished to fulfill with Gomes, she may have simply executed it privately – with out having it documented for social media and the newspapers and TV information. However she selected to make it a public spectacle.
Little doubt some individuals fell for it, together with liberals and different Democrats who’ve been swooning over Gomes for days.
However a couple of days later, performing ICE Performing Director Todd Lyons was prompted to fireplace again at Healey and threw in Boston Mayor Michelle Wu for good measure.
“Politicians like Mayor Wu and Governor Healey have loudly touted lawlessness over legislation and order. Their prioritization of felony aliens in communities throughout the state ought to converse volumes to their constituents. As these elected officers welcome these flouting nationwide legal guidelines, ICE’s courageous legislation enforcement officers defending public security will proceed to carry out the job they refuse to do,” Lyons stated in an announcement Sunday.
The forwards and backwards was an escalation of the battle between ICE and Democratic politicians throughout the nation. However on the subject of PR, Healey is clearly the winner. ICE is seen because the villain by most Democrats and most liberal Massachusetts voters.
But it surely’s no shock that Healey is profitable this battle within the Bay State.
When it was politically expedient for her and she or he wished to draw Democratic votes, Healey inspired unlawful migrants to flock to Massachusetts. However as quickly because it turned a fiscal nightmare that was hurting her administration, Healey scaled again and started to limit how lengthy migrants may keep within the non permanent shelters.
Whether or not it’s spinning a basketball on her finger and waxing poetic about her taking part in days in school, or posing with a child bear cub in her arms, Healey has all the time ruled with public relations in thoughts.
“These cubs are so cute I can hardly bear it!” Healey wrote on Instagram final yr when she spent the day tagging bears with wildlife staff.
Utilizing bears as props is one factor, however utilizing a human being is one other.
Healey quietly introduced on board one in all her prime political advisers, Corey Welford, to the governor’s workplace final yr at $140,000 a yr. Welford is an skilled hand and adept at campaigns.
Gov. Charlie Baker was not so targeted on PR as Healey again when he was within the Nook Workplace. That has not all the time helped him, however he did land a profitable job heading the NCAA after leaving workplace.
