Jared Kushner criticized Ron DeSantis flying migrants to Martha's Vineyard: 'You have to remember these are human beings'

• Jared Kushner took aim at Ron DeSantis while discussing the flight of migrants to Martha's Vineyard.
• Using migrants "as political pawns" is "very troubling," he told Fox News on Tuesday.

Jared Kushner was critical of Ron DeSantis' actions in bringing migrants to Martha's Vineyard on Tuesday, saying on Fox News that it's "very troubling" for people to be "used as political pawns."

The former White House senior advisor was asked to comment on talk show "Outnumbered" after being shown clips of DeSantis discussing the September 15 stunt.

"We have to remember these are human beings," Kushner said.

"They're people. So seeing them being used as political pawns one way or the other is very troubling to me," he said, before quickly pivoting to criticize President Joe Biden's handling of the border, and to praise former President Donald Trump's immigration policy.

More attention should be paid to "coyotes," he also said, using a slang term for a person who smuggles migrants across the border for "a lot of money."

"Many of them are exploited, put in human trafficking and modern slavery in a lot of ways," Kushner said of the migrants.

But he blamed what he called the "humanitarian catastrophe" of increased border crossings on the Biden administration, after it reversed former Trump's immigration policies.

On September 15, Ron DeSantis flew 48 migrants from Texas to ritzy Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, in a stunt aimed at bringing border and migration issues to a liberal enclave. Locals quickly organized to accommodate them temporarily, before they were voluntarily moved to a military base.

The migrant group later filed a federal lawsuit against DeSantis, saying they were misled with promises of accommodation and jobs and calling it a "premeditated, fraudulent, and illegal scheme."

A lawyer for the group, Jacob Love, told Insider's Natalie Musumeci they were "traumatized" at being thrust into the center of a political firestorm.

But political strategists say the move has played well with conservatives, pulling attention off Trump's multiple legal fights and giving the GOP an issue to rally around, as Insider reported.

DeSantis, who is considered a likely presidential candidate for 2024, was shown scoffing at the liberal outrage on the clip played on "Outnumbered" on Tuesday.

"You got have 50 die in Texas in a trailer because they were being neglected," DeSantis said in the clip, referring to an incident in June.

"Was there a freak-out about that? No there wasn't," he claimed, though many politicians including Biden did express outrage and pledge to prevent anything like it happening again.

"It's only when 50 get put into Martha's Vineyard," that outrage follows, DeSantis said in the clip, which host Emily Compagno agreed with.