Racist ‘dog whistle’ claim heats up election

Republican warns Florida not to ‘monkey this up’ by electing black rival in governor’s race

Rep. Ron DeSantis, the Republican nominee for governor in Florida, drew accusations of using a racist “dog whistle” Wednesday.

He sparked criticism after saying in a television interview that voters should not “monkey this up” by electing his opponent, Andrew Gillum, who would be the state’s first black governor.

Gillum, the mayor of Tallahassee, won the primary election in an upset on Tuesday night, handing a major victory to the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.

In the interview with Fox News on the first day of the general election campaign, DeSantis, 39, who has President Donald Trump’s support, attacked Gillum’s candidacy by painting him as a far-left socialist.

“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 the state,” he said.

“That is not going to work. That’s not going to be good for Florida.”

Monkeys have long been used in racial slurs against black people, and many took note of that history.

Terrie Rizzo, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, blasted DeSantis’ comments. “It’s disgusting that Ron DeSantis is launching his general election campaign with racist dog whistles,” she wrote on Twitter.

In a statement, Stephen Lawson, a spokesperson for DeSantis, rejected the idea that the candidate’s comments had a racial undertone.

“Ron DeSantis was obviously talking about Florida not making the wrong decision to embrace the socialist policies that Andrew Gillum espouses,” Lawson said.

“To characterize it as anything else is absurd.”

Critics online said DeSantis’ description of Gillum, 39, as an “articulate spokesperson” for liberal views was another dog whistle.

The word “articulate” has a history of being used by white people to praise certain black people in a way that carries a troubling subtext of surprise at their intelligence.

In describing Gillum as an extreme leftist, DeSantis used a message similar to that of Trump, who wrote in a tweet on Wednesday that Gillum was a “failed Socialist mayor.”

Democratics immediately seized on DeSantis’ comments. “It barely took 12 hours for Trump yes-man Ron DeSantis to make a racist comment about his opponent,” said Zach Hudson, a spokesperson for the Democratic political action committee American Bridge 21st Century.

Gillum’s victory Tuesday was propelled by an endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and financial support from Tom Steyer, George Soros and Collective PAC, a group dedicated to electing African-Americans.

He supports universal health care, legalizing marijuana and abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency — as well as impeaching Trump.

DeSantis gained attention last year by making television appearances on Fox News to defend the president, who responded with his own praise. Trump gave DeSantis a full-throated endorsement in June.