In an August 25 town hall meeting in Melrose, Florida, Rep. Ted Yoho boasted that he had recently personally prevented a boat of Cuban refugees from reaching land in the U.S. The Florida Republican said that he had been fishing with his son off the Florida Keys the previous weekend when his son spotted a boat with about “20 migrants” who “wanted liberty and freedom.”
Yoho said he notified the Coast Guard but not before taking matters into his own hands: He told his son to “throw a rope in there and follow their route and he did it, the Coast Guard showed up, and they deported those people back to Cuba.”
“I have a friend I know that’s in the Coast Guard that picked them up and they said that was the was the maddest group of immigrants they’ve ever picked up,” he said. “And I can imagine, you’re a mile and a half from land and I snatched it away from them, I’m sure that’s what they think.” He then boasted that he had saved taxpayer money that would’ve been spent on the refugees.
An attendee broadcasted the meeting on Periscope.
