Democrat Andrew Gillum may become Florida’s first black governor.
Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr
Republican Ron DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial campaign has been marked by charges of racism from the beginning. On the first day of the campaign, Ron DeSantis warned Florida voters not to “monkey this up” by voting for Democrat Andrew Gillum.
Gillum is running to be the first African-American governor in Florida history.
\nClock it: Ron DeSantis has been declared a racist by Democrats less than 12 hours after winning his primary election for saying Monkey this up...
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) August 29, 2018\n
That might be a new record time for the DNC. pic.twitter.com/xxKNRXc47b
DeSantis has also been criticized for accepting a large sum of money from a Republican activist who called Barack Obama a “F---- MUSLIM N----” on Twitter.
He also spoke at a conference held by anti-Muslim conservative political activist David Horowitz.
He is also supported by The Road to Power, an anti-semitic, white supremacist website that’s funded racist anti-Gillum robocalls.
While it’s rare for a politician to outright accuse another of being a racist, Gillum did just that at the Florida gubernatorial debate on Wednesday, October 25.
\nAs my grandmother used to say — a hit dog will holler. pic.twitter.com/kC34Ldd0is
— Andrew Gillum (@AndrewGillum) October 25, 2018\n
“Well, let me first say my grandmother used to say, ‘A hit dog will holler,’” Gillum said, “And it hollered through this room. Mr. DeSantis has spoken. First of all, he’s got neo-Nazis helping him out in the state. He has spoken at racist conferences. He’s accepted a contribution and would not return it from someone who referred to the former president of the United States as a Muslim n-i-g-g-e-r. When asked to return that money, he said no. He’s using that money to now fund negative ads. Now, I’m not calling Mr. Desantis a racist. I’m simply saying the racists believe he’s a racist.”
The clip of Gillum calling out DeSantis quickly went viral, inspiring some pretty great responses.
— Nate (@natewcampbell) October 25, 2018\n\n
\nIf it's quacks like a duck... pic.twitter.com/AUNgR9f6ob
— ElastigirPersists (@Elastigirl2018) October 25, 2018\n
— Duke Togo (@Dawan051980) October 25, 2018\n\n
\nSir, I salute you. And not only do I wish you every success in becoming Governor of Florida, I wish heartily that you could teach some more Democratic politicians to get the job done with the same directness, incisiveness, and vigor that you display.
— (((Amitai Adler))) (@rabbiadler) October 25, 2018\n
\nThere’s a 100 percent chance Desantis puked after this debate.
— very rude elevator screamer (@gelderbailey) October 25, 2018\n
Real Clear Politics shows that Gillum currently has a 4.5% lead over Desantis.
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