There will always be Presidents campaigning for candidates in their party, but hopefully with a little more class than this. This morning, Donald Trump put out a tweet filled with dog whistles.
In Florida there is a choice between a Harvard/Yale educated man named @RonDeSantisFL who has been a great Congressman and will be a great Governor – and a Dem who is a thief and who is Mayor of poorly run Tallahassee, said to be one of the most corrupt cities in the Country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2018
The Democrat Trump is referring to is Andrew Gillum. Gillum attended the perfectly respectful university, FAMU. It’s a college that happens to be predominantly black. Trump is clearly suggesting Gillum is less educated than DeSantis because of the college attended. He also calls Gillum a thief, but the 39-year-old has no criminal record.
There’s no evidence Andrew Gillum is a thief. That’s the first time Trump has called someone a thief on Twitter. Gillum is a Black man. pic.twitter.com/sfNUpceDOF
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 29, 2018
Prominent DC-area racist, head of racist hate group formerly known as the Republican Party, sends racist tweet attacking black candidate for FL governor. https://t.co/OhpuE84NAG
— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) October 29, 2018
Gillum responded on Twitter saying:
“On Twitter there is a choice between having the courage to @ the person you are trash talking, or not. @realDonaldTrump is howling because he’s weak. Florida, go vote today.”
Geoff Burgan, Senior Advisor to Andrew Gillum, also said:
“It’s time to call these attacks what they really are — disgusting lies against a man running to be the first black governor of Florida. Trump has reserved this type of coded language for Stacey Abrams, Ben Jealous, and Andrew Gillum.“
Gillum’s opponent Ron DeSantis has been accused of using racist terms himself in the past and he’s also been accused of having ties to racists. Gillum was also the subject of a racist robocall last week. During the last Gubernatorial debate the Tallahassee mayor noted:
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.
Trump’s tweet certainly doesn’t help DeSantis in the area of race. If anything it adds fuel to the fire.
Trump will be stumping for DeSantis this week, visiting Fort Myers and Pensacola. Though some wonder whether his appearances will help or hurt the candidate. It was also just announced that Gillum will be getting help from former President Barack Obama. He will join Gillum for a rally in Miami on Friday.