Gillum warns DeSantis
Racially charged rhetoric irresponsible, gubernatorial candidate tells GOP opponent
Florida Democratic candidate for governor Andrew Gillum warned his GOP opponent Ron DeSantis to be “careful” with his words in the racially charged start to the general election campaign.
Gillum, 39, seeking to become Florida’s first black governor, appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday and responded to reports of a racist anti-Gillum robocall put out by a Neo-Nazi group Friday. The call, which contained jungle noises and exaggerated black dialect, was first reported by the Tallahassee Democrat.
Gillum acknowledged that Republicans quickly denounced the robocall call but added, “We cannot afford to weaponize race. People take cues from their leader, and Ron DeSantis is the leader. … [DeSantis] must be careful about his language.”
On Wednesday, DeSantis in an interview with Fox News said Florida couldn’t afford to “monkey this up” when talking about Gillum’s progressive policies.
Gillum and some Democrats immediately accused DeSantis, 39, a member of the U.S. House backed by President Donald Trump, of making a racist remark. DeSantis, however, said there was
no racial intent in what he said
Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press,” asked Gillum about reports of an ongoing FBI investigation of corruption in Tallahassee, where Gillum is the mayor. Gillum responded that he was not the target of the investigation and that he has “worked to cooperate … We want it resolved.”
Gillum said he had raised $2 million in the first two days after his stunning primary victory on Tuesday over former U.S. Rep Gwen Graham, mostly from small donors.
He acknowledged the multimillion-dollar support of liberal billionaires Tom Steyer and George Soros but said he planned to rely more on the donations of typical citizens, including his mother, who he said had been on “auto-pay of $20 a month.”
According to Todd, DeSantis was invited to appear on the show but declined.