'Racists believe he’s a racist': Andrew Gillum’s 2018 warning about Ron DeSantis resurfaces
The October 21st, 2018 Florida gubernatorial debate between former Democratic Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum and ex-Republican United States Representative Ron DeSantis was a slugfest between the two men, both of whom hoped to win the chance to govern the country's third-most-populous state.
Thanks to then-President Donald Trump's endorsement, DeSantis emerged as a formidable candidate by embracing Trump's Make America Great Again brand of right-wing populism. Gillum won his party's nomination over former Congresswoman Gwen Graham by running on a progressive platform, but he was unable to overcome DeSantis' consistent, albeit tight, lead in the polls. That resulted in a narrow DeSantis victory of 49.6 percent to 49.2 percent over Gillum in the November 6th election. A mere 32,463 votes constituted that 0.4 percent difference.
Since taking office in January 2019, the now-two-termer DeSantis has increasingly embraced what some consider the most extreme elements of the social conservative movement — which is exactly what Gillum warned would happen if Floridians elected him.
On Sunday, politico Brian Tyler Cohen retweeted a viral moment from the Gillum-DeSantis showdown in which Gillum predicted what a DeSantis administration would look like.
"Gillum had DeSantis pegged for exactly who he is," Cohen remarked in his post.
Gillum:
Well, let me first say, my grandmother used to say, a hit dog will holler, and it hollered through this room. Mr. DeSantis has spoken.
First of all, he's got Neo-Nazis helping him out in this 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****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.
Watch the clip below or at this link.
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