Racism immediately became an issue in the Florida governor’s race Wednesday as both nominees made predictions: The Democrat said voters aren’t looking for a misogynist, racist or bigot, while the Republican said voters shouldn’t “monkey this up” by choosing his African-American opponent.
Only hours after their primary election victories, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum and U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis made clear the high-profile race in the nation’s largest political battleground state was going to be nasty. Gillum, a far-left Democrat seeking to become the state’s first black governor, and DeSantis, a Trump-endorsed Republican, are political opposites, both seeking to gin up turnout among the party’s most ardent supporters.
Asked if he’s afraid of President Donald Trump’s support for DeSantis, Gillum told CNN that his race is about uniting the state and that voters want someone is who “not misogynist, not racist, not bigots.”
In an interview with The Associated Press he added: “I think the Florida electorate is going to reject the politics of division … We’re going to try to compel and appeal to the higher values of the people of the state of Florida.”
Meanwhile, on Fox News, DeSantis called Gillum an “articulate” candidate, but said “the last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting this state. That is not going to work. It’s not going to be good for Florida.”
Democrats immediately decried DeSantis’ comment as racist.
“That was more than a dog-whistle,” said U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, a West Palm Beach Democrat. “That was absolutely a racist, disgusting statement. I don’t think there’s any other way to interpret it.”
But the DeSantis campaign clarified that his comments were directed at Gillum’s policies, not the candidate himself. “To characterize it as anything else is absurd,” his spokesman Stephen Lawson said.
Gillum in his AP interview called the comment a form of “gutter politics” that he said comes from the “Trump school” of trying to “fire up the base.”
The exchange between the two campaigns came less than a day after a primary outcome that appeared unthinkable a few months ago. DeSantis came from behind in the GOP primary with the help of Trump to beat Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who campaigned longer, raised more money and built party establishment support.
Gillum upset a field of five that included former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, who was hoping to become the state’s first female governor and win the office once held by her father, Bob Graham. Gillum spent the least of the major candidates, but won the hearts of those who consider themselves progressives, and got a late boost from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
They’re seeking to succeed Gov. Rick Scott, who can’t run for re-election because of term limits.
In a state sure to be a battleground in the 2020 presidential vote, the governor’s race will essentially be a referendum on Trump. Gillum in his remarks to supporters on election night said he and supporters would seek to counter the “dark days that we’ve been under coming out of Washington.”
DeSantis also came out fighting, criticizing Gillum as “way, way, way too liberal for the state of Florida.”
“That is not what Floridians want,” DeSantis declared.
DeSantis based nearly his entire primary run Trump and acknowledged his endorsement was the key.
“With one tweet, that kind of put me on the map,” DeSantis said.
Trump weighed in Wednesday on Twitter saying that not only did DeSantis win but that “his opponent in November is his biggest dream.” He called Gillum a “failed socialist mayor” who has “allowed crime and many other problems to flourish in the city.”
Tallahassee has had one of the Florida’s highest crime rates in recent years though it has been going down.
Gillum brushed off Trump’s tweet, saying, “I’m a Democrat, but I have to tell you that not much what Donald Trump says is actually based in fact. The president does not scare me. If he’s going to tweet at me he should @ me. And he ought to know he should be prepared to receive a response when appropriate.”
DeSantis, who turns 40 next month, is a former Navy lawyer who won his seat in 2012 running as a Washington outsider. He entered the governor’s race a month after Trump’s December tweet that he would make “a GREAT governor.” Later Trump held a rally for him in Tampa.
Gillum, meanwhile, relied on a grassroots campaign in the big-money Democratic primary.
Gillum was a 23-year-old Florida A&M student when he became the youngest person elected to the Tallahassee City Commission in 2003. He was elected mayor in 2014. He’s a gifted public speaker who did well in debates, often receiving the most applause, but the FBI is investigating Tallahassee city hall for alleged corruption. Gillum has said he’s not a target.
Their policy differences are pronounced: DeSantis is pro-gun, and anti-tax; Gillum boasts about beating gun rights groups in a lawsuit and is calling for an increase in corporate taxes.
Gillum didn’t make race an issue in the primary. But he acknowledged in a recent interview that it would be “big” to be Florida’s first black governor.
“I have been really slow to try to think on it because it’s too big,” he said. “There will absolutely be a part of this that I can’t even put words to around what it might mean for my children and other people’s kids. Especially growing up for them in the age of Donald Trump.”
(AP)
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9 Responses
What hogwash. It was a reference for the policies not the candidate. Clear as day. Only a racist mind can see racism here
The Democrats really need to get over themselves. Stop accusing every candidate without a D after their name of being racists, misogynist bigots. Their tactic got old like 10 years ago. Only dimwits who don’t have a basic comprehension of economics vote for Democrats.
What does “monkey” have to do with race. Monkeys, like humans, come in all colors, probably related to climate. The Democrats would accuse the Republican of racism regardless of what he ways, since by their definition, not supporting the Democratic party is proof that one is [fill in the blank with whatever evil you are mad about at the moment)].
Gillum is a good student of Eric Holder. Just pull out that almighty race card. The Thought Police in the MSM will back you up no matter how outrageous the charge. Now let’s see if DeSantis will turn into another Romney or McShame and fold like a cheap Rino/camera and throw the election or will he be a man.
What a crock and the Dems know it. They’re trying to use the old race card grasping at straws to try and sway the vote. DeSantis is too smart and disciplined to use that word in a derogatory way.
Perhaps Mayor Gillum needs to brush up on his English. The second definition of “monkey” as a VERB in the ‘Oxford Living Dictionary’ is: “to tamper with”, as in “Don’t monkey with that lock!” That’s obviously the sense in which DeSantis used it!
(Furthermore, I bet Gillum would not be able to come up with even one known instance of a racist usage of ‘monkey’ as a verb!)
Sorry guys, a dogwhistle is a dogwhistle. “Monkey” is a term that for white racists is automatically linked with black people. Think of all the money-related terms that have been associated with anti-Semitism. The users look so innocent and say, “Who me? Anti-Semitic? I was just criticizing tax dodgers/money lenders/bankers, etc.” Remember, when it’s considered OK to use such terms against racial minorities, it also becomes acceptable to use derogatory terms against religious minorities – and that particularly includes us.
I don’t fully understand African-Americans’ objection to the use of the word “monkey”, but I know they object, and politicians should know it, too. A Jewish candidate would surely object to the use of the term “hook-nosed” or “money-changer.” Lots of us Jews have uninteresting noses, and are not money-changers, but we know an anti-Semitic reference when we hear or read it.
Guess who said these words in 2008: “I come from Chicago. It’s not as if it’s just Republicans who have monkeyed around with elections in the past. Sometimes Democrats have, too. You know, whenever people are in power, they have this tendency to try to tilt things in their direction.”
If you say ‘Hussein Obama’ then you are correct.