Florida Man has struck again, folks.
However, this particular Florida man is different than most of the stories we write about the generic Florida Man.
Here is what we mean…
On Tuesday night, Ron DeSantis won the Republican primary for the Governorship of The Sunshine State.
On the opposite end of the political spectrum, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum won the Democratic primary for this same position.
The two candidates will square off in the general election this November, as voters are asked to choose between a very progressive, anti-Donald Trump candidate…
… and DeSantis, who earned an endorsement from the infamous Commander-in-Chief.
During an appearance on Fox News a few hours after his victory, DeSantis was talking about the upcoming race and made a remark that nearly everyone is interpreting as a reference to Gillum"s race.
Around the 34-second mark of the video featured here, DeSantis warns Floridians that “the last thing we need to do is monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda."
DeSantis is on one hand telling folks that they"d be stuck with an agenda backed by Democrats such as Bernie Sanders if Gillum is elected.
On the other hand, he"s… ummm… being totally racist?
Aside from simply inventing a phrase (people "muck" things up, yes, but no one says anyone "monkeys" anything up) that uses an insult that"s been hurled at African-Americans for centuries, DeSantis is being accused of employing offensive “dog whistles” in this interview.
Take note of when he says Gillum is an “articulate” speaker who “performed better” at the debates than his rivals.
DeSantis’ camp has said, in response to this controversy, that the candidate “was obviously talking about Florida not making the wrong decision to embrace the socialist policies that Andrew Gillum espouses.
"To characterize it as anything else is absurd.
"Florida’s economy has been on the move for the last eight years and the last thing we need is a far-left democrat trying to stop our success."
Translation:
Just ignore that one racist word he used, okay?!? Unless, of course, it helps to emphasize the important differences between the candidates for you and will prompt you to vote for DeSantis.
Watch the remark here and judge its intent for yourself.
